Hyderabad: The Supreme Court will hear the Danam Nagender plea challenging his disqualification from the Telangana Assembly on Wednesday. A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India listed the matter after hearing submissions from both sides.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the petition before the Supreme Court on Monday. He told the court that the Telangana High Court had disqualified Danam Nagender after allowing a petition that the Assembly Speaker had rejected.
Rohatgi sought an urgent hearing, citing the possibility of a by-election in the Khairatabad Assembly constituency. He requested the court to take up the matter on Tuesday.
The respondents opposed the request for an immediate hearing. Their lawyers asked the bench to consider their submissions before fixing the hearing.
Danam Nagender plea faces objections from respondents
BJP Legislature Party leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy had already filed caveats in the Supreme Court, their lawyers told the bench. They requested the court to hear the matter on another day instead of Tuesday.
After hearing both sides, the CJI-led bench agreed to hear the petition. The court fixed the hearing for Wednesday.
Danam Nagender had won the Khairatabad Assembly seat as a BRS candidate in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections. He later contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket.
The Telangana High Court treated his move from the BRS ticket to the Congress ticket as a case of defection. In its September 18 judgment, the court held that his disqualification took effect from April 23, 2024.
The High Court also declared the Khairatabad Assembly seat vacant. Danam Nagender then approached the Supreme Court against the judgment.
The Supreme Court’s Wednesday hearing will now take up the challenge to the High Court order. The proceedings will also determine the next stage in the dispute over the Khairatabad Assembly seat.