Danam Nagender | Hyderabad, Sept. 18 (Maxim News): The Telangana High Court on Friday disqualified Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender under the anti-defection law, setting aside the decision of the Assembly Speaker. The court declared the Khairatabad Assembly seat vacant.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin delivered the verdict.
The court held that Nagender stood disqualified with effect from April 23, 2024, after he contested the Secunderabad Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate while serving as an MLA elected on a BRS ticket.
BJP Legislature Party leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy had challenged the Speaker’s decision before the High Court. They had sought Nagender’s disqualification under the anti-defection provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Danam Nagender Disqualification Case
Nagender won the Khairatabad Assembly seat on a BRS ticket in the 2023 Telangana elections. He subsequently joined the Congress and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket without resigning his Assembly seat.
The Speaker, acting as chairman of the tribunal, had earlier rejected the disqualification petitions. The petitioners then approached the High Court, challenging that decision.
The High Court set aside the Speaker’s order and directed that its decision be communicated to the Assembly Speaker and the Election Commission. The bench also rejected Nagender’s lawyers’ request to keep the order in abeyance to allow him time to approach the Supreme Court.
The verdict comes as similar petitions involving other BRS MLAs who later joined the Congress remain pending before the High Court.
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