New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of contempt petitions alleging non-compliance with its earlier order directing the Telangana Assembly Speaker to decide disqualification pleas against MLAs who defected from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the ruling Congress.
Following the submission that a decision has now been taken in all the disqualification petitions by the Speaker, a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and A.G. Masih directed the Speaker’s office to provide a copy of the decision to the petitioners by Friday and to supply the entire record of the proceedings within four days.
“The Office of the Speaker shall supply the order by tomorrow and the entire material to the petitioners within four days,” the Justice Karol-led Bench ordered while disposing of the matter.
The apex court was hearing contempt petitions alleging non-compliance with its July 31, 2025, order by which it had granted three months to the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions against 10 BRS MLAs who had allegedly crossed over to the ruling Congress.
During the hearing, senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state of Telangana, informed the top court that the Speaker has taken a decision on all the pending petitions and that nothing survives in the contempt proceedings.
Singhvi further submitted that some of the decisions taken by the Speaker have already been challenged before the Telangana High Court.
However, counsel appearing for the petitioners contended that copies of the Speaker’s decision had not yet been supplied to them and alleged that the delay was being used as a tactic to stall further legal remedies.
Taking note of the submission, the Justice Karol-led Bench directed the Speaker’s office to furnish the decision to the petitioners by the next day and to provide the entire material within four days.
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 after it returned to power in Telangana in 2023.
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”.
It had later taken up contempt petitions alleging non-compliance with its directions.
In December last year, the Speaker rejected seven of the 10 disqualification petitions following stern observations from the top court, while the remaining pleas were decided subsequently.
(IANS)
