New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday termed it “gross contempt” on the part of the Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar over the continued delay in deciding the disqualification petitions against 10 Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress party.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai and comprising Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, was hearing a contempt petition filed by BRS leader Kaushik Reddy after the Assembly Speaker failed to comply with the top court’s July 31 direction requiring him to decide the disqualification petitions within three months.
The deadline set by the Supreme Court expired on October 31.
Taking strong exception to the Speaker’s inaction, the CJI Gavai-led Bench remarked, “It is for him (the Speaker) whether he wants to decide the matter or face contempt by this Court. This is gross contempt.”
“Finish it by next week or face the contempt. We have already held that he doesn’t enjoy constitutional immunity when considering matters under the Tenth Schedule. He has to decide where he wants to spend his New Year’s Eve,” warned the apex court.
Appearing for the Speaker, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi assured the CJI Gavai-led Bench that a decision would be taken within two weeks. “The message is loud and clear, milord,” Singhvi said.
The dispute stems from the defection of 10 BRS MLAs — including Danam Nagender, Kadiyam Srihari, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, and Tellam Venkat Rao — who joined the Congress in 2023 following its return to power in Telangana.
In an order passed on July 31, the Supreme Court had directed the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions “as expeditiously as possible and in any case within three months”, also setting aside a Telangana High Court ruling that no time limit could be imposed on the Speaker.
The Speaker’s continued delay has triggered political unrest in Telangana. BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao recently said the party was prepared to approach the Supreme Court once again to ensure the defected MLAs are unseated, insisting that by-elections in the concerned constituencies had become “inevitable”.
Earlier in August, a group of BRS MLAs even submitted a disqualification petition at the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises after failing to meet the Telangana Assembly Speaker.
Danam Nagender (Khairatabad constituency), Tellam Venkat Rao (Bhadrachalam), Kadiyam Srihari (Station Ghanpur), Pocharam Srinivas Reddy (Banswada), M. Sanjay Kumar (Jagtial), Arekapudi Gandhi (Serilingampally), T. Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar), B. Krishna Mohan Reddy (Gadwal), G. Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru), and Kale Yadaiah (Chevella) defected to the Congress party last year.
(IANS)
