Telangana HC disqualifies Danam Nagender, faults Speaker's ruling

The Telangana High Court on Friday disqualified Danam Nagender as a member of the Legislative Assembly, holding that the Assembly Speaker's finding on jurisdiction in the disqualification matter ran contrary to the constitutional mandate.

The court said the Speaker's conclusion violated Article 191(2) of the Constitution read with paragraphs 2(1)(a) and 2(1)(b) of the Tenth Schedule.

A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin examined the Speaker's view that an MLA contesting a Lok Sabha election on another party's ticket was not constitutionally prohibited. The bench described that position as perverse in the eye of law.

The court noted that the MLA had not disputed the material facts — that he was elected on a BRS ticket in 2023 and that he secured a Congress nomination for the Secunderabad parliamentary seat. He also campaigned against the BRS candidate in the Lok Sabha polls.

Once the MLA admitted these facts, the bench said, the Speaker had no option but to conclude that he had defected from the BRS.

The court held that the Speaker's decision could not be sustained under judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution, as laid down in the Kihoto Hollohan case.