The fate of the 10 Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs who defected to the Congress over the past year has been sealed, as the Supreme Court on Thursday concluded the hearing in the case and reserved its judgment.
The petitions were filed separately by BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao (KTR), along with MLAs Padi Kaushik Reddy and KP Vivekanand, challenging the Telangana Assembly Speaker’s delay in deciding on the disqualification pleas against the 10 defected MLAs.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented the Telangana Speaker’s office, while Aryama Sundaram appeared on behalf of Kaushik Reddy.
Singhvi argued that there was no existing precedent mandating a fixed time frame for the Speaker to decide on disqualification petitions.
Justice B.R. Gavai, in response, asked, “What do you consider a reasonable time?” The bench also took note of recent remarks made by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy in the Assembly, as highlighted by Sundaram.
The Chief Minister had reportedly stated, “There will be no by-elections; I am saying this on behalf of the Speaker too.” Sundaram argued that this comment indicated possible bias in the Speaker’s approach.
Justice Gavai responded sharply, asking, “Can’t the Chief Minister exercise self-restraint? This has happened in the past too. If this continues, what is to be done?”
Singhvi countered that opposition leaders had made even more provocative statements in the past, but the court found those unrelated to the present case.
Justice Gavai observed that the CM’s remarks could amount to contempt of court, adding, “We are exercising restraint, and other institutions should show the same respect.”
Singhvi further argued that instead of following the prescribed complaint process with the Speaker, the opposition had chosen to exert legal pressure by approaching the court.
Justice Gavai noted that had the recommendations made by the single-judge bench been positively considered earlier, the case might not have escalated to this level.
