The Supreme Court has issued a strict warning to Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, directing him to decide pending disqualification petitions of ten MLAs within three weeks. The court cautioned that failure to comply would compel it to take action under contempt provisions. The petitions, filed by the BRS party over allegations of party defection, were initially to be decided by October 31 last year.
When the Speaker failed to act and allegedly violated the Supreme Court’s earlier order, BRS MLAs Padi Kaushik Reddy and BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao filed fresh petitions on November 10 seeking contempt action. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and A.G. Masih heard the matter, adjourning the case for two weeks in January and directing the Speaker to update the court on progress.
During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Singhi, representing the Speaker, informed the bench that one petition had been decided while two were in final stages. The delay, he said, was due to municipal elections, with a decision expected by the second week of March. Petitioners’ counsel Mohit Rao disputed this, arguing that the Speaker’s team was misrepresenting facts, citing instances where MLAs continued party activity or campaigned for relatives, offering no valid reason for delay.
The bench, led by Justice Sanjay Karol, granted the Speaker three weeks to decide the pending petitions, warning that failure to do so would invite contempt proceedings. The court also reprimanded the petitioner’s counsel for recording proceedings for social media, expressing concern over the growing trend, while the lawyer assured the court it would not recur.