Telangana HC: Police Can't Bar MLAs From Assembly; Speaker to Act on Rule Breaches
Telangana HC bars police from stopping MLAs entering Assembly; says Speaker, not police, handles rule violations.
The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the Director General of Police to ensure that legislators are not prevented from entering the Assembly premises during the ongoing eighth session. Justice T. Madhavi Devi, hearing a lunch-motion petition, clarified that any action for violating Assembly rules rests with the Speaker, not with the police.
The court instructed the DGP to identify the police personnel responsible for stopping the legislators and take strict departmental action against them. A report on the matter has been sought, with the next hearing scheduled for September 21.
The petition was moved by the BRS, with MLA Talasani Srinivas Yadav representing the party. Senior counsel Gandra Mohan Rao argued that police had blocked MLAs from entering the Assembly without any legal authority.
The Government Pleader for Home, Mahesh Raje, cited Rule 316 and clauses xiii and xv of the Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Assembly, which bar MLAs from wearing or displaying badges inside the House. He suggested that police may have acted because legislators were wearing black T-shirts with slogans, and sought time for further instructions.
During the hearing, the judge reviewed photographs showing women legislators being stopped by police. Observing that the images spoke for themselves, she noted that while male MLAs wore T-shirts with badges and slogans, the women MLAs were not in any specific dress. "Circumstances can be different but treating women like that was not acceptable," she remarked, adding that police behaviour in this instance was not acceptable.
The court issued notices to the Home Secretary, DGP, Hyderabad Police Commissioner, Assembly Secretary, and the Khairatabad Deputy Commissioner of Police, directing them to respond within two weeks.