In a significant legal development, the Telangana High Court has taken up a petition challenging the decision of Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar to dismiss the disqualification petition against Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender. The petition was filed by BJP floor leader and Nirmal MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, who argued that Nagender should have been disqualified due to his contested Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket while being an MLA from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
Senior advocate K Vivek Reddy, representing the BJP MLA, cited legal precedents to assert that Nagender ‘voluntarily’ gave up his primary membership of BRS when he filed his nomination with the Congress. The division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin issued notices to Nagender and the Speaker, setting the matter for further hearing on April 16. Both parties have been asked to submit their counter-affidavits within four weeks.
The petition seeks to quash the Speaker’s order dismissing the disqualification petition and direct the return of all benefits, including Nagender’s salary as MLA. The petitioner contends that Nagender stands disqualified under 2(1)(a) of the tenth schedule of the Constitution from April 23, 2024, the date he filed his nomination affidavit for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
