NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Telangana Assembly Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions, pending against 10 BRS MLAs under the Tenth Schedule for having defected to the ruling Congress in the State, within a period of three months.
The top court said that political defections has been a matter of national discourse, if not curbed, it has the potential to disrupt democracy.
In its judgment, a bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih said any MLA should not be allowed to protract the disqualification proceeding pending before the Speaker, who can draw adverse inferences against them in case of such attempts.
The bench said Parliament should review current mechanism for disqualification of MLAs since Speakers of Assemblies inordinately delayed such proceedings to frustrate action against defectors who posed danger to democracy.
The court's judgment came on a plea filed by BRS leaders K T Rama Rao and Padi Kaushik Reddy, seeking timely action by the Telangana Assembly Speaker on disqualification proceedings pending against 10 MLAs who shifted allegiance to the ruling Congress in the State.
The court said it was unfortunate that the Speaker issued notice on disqualification petitions after seven months, only when this court issued notice on the issue and decided to examine the delay.
The court also emphasised that the Speaker, while acting as a adjudicating authority in disqualification proceedings under the anti defection law, acted as a tribunal amenable to the jurisdiction of High Court and Supreme court.
The Speaker does not enjoy any constitutional immunity in such matters, the bench said.
The bench said the Single bench of the High Court had only asked the Speaker to fix a schedule for hearing within a period of four weeks.
“The Single Judge had not issued any direction to decide the disqualification petitions, the division bench of the High Court had erred in interfering with the order of the single judge of the high court," the CJI said, pronouncing the verdict on behalf of the bench.
The bench emphasised that the Speaker while acting as an adjudicatory authority under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution does not enjoy constitutional immunity, as available under Article 122 or 212 of the Constitution.
“The present appeals are allowed. The impugned judgment and final order dated November 22, 2024, passed by the Division bench of the High Court is quashed and set aside. We direct the Speaker to conclude the disqualification proceedings pending against the 10 MLAs pertaining to the present appeal as expeditiously as possible, and in any case within a period of three months from the date of this judgment,” the CJI said.
The court set aside the Telangana High Court's division bench judgment of November 22, 2024.
