Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Monday clubbed BJP leader Aaleti Maheshwar Reddy’s contempt plea with pending petitions by BRS leaders K.T. Rama Rao and Kaushik Reddy in the ongoing MLA defection case.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Karol issued fresh notices to Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, directing him to respond. The next hearing has been scheduled for February 6.
Speaker under fire over defection delays
Maheshwar Reddy filed the contempt petition alleging that the Speaker failed to comply with a previous Supreme Court directive. The order required a decision within three months on disqualification pleas against 10 BRS MLAs who allegedly defected.
Opposition parties, including BJP and BRS, have accused the Speaker of intentionally stalling action despite court instructions. The petition also highlighted recent comments by Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, who publicly claimed to still belong to the Congress, adding further complexity to the case.
The court had earlier served a contempt notice to the Speaker in November. With the BJP plea now merged, the defection case has regained political prominence in Telangana.