Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed former Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender’s plea challenging his disqualification, upholding the Telangana High Court judgment that removed him from the Assembly under the anti-defection law.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana said there was no ground to interfere with the High Court’s judgment.
The Telangana High Court had on September 18 set aside the order of Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar and declared Nagender disqualified from April 23, 2024. It also declared the Khairatabad Assembly constituency vacant.
Supreme Court Dismisses Danam Nagender’s Plea
The case relates to Nagender’s election to the Khairatabad Assembly constituency on a BRS ticket in 2023. While serving as a BRS MLA, he filed his nomination as a Congress candidate for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency in 2024.
The High Court held that this amounted to voluntarily giving up membership of the BRS under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Nagender subsequently approached the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition challenging the High Court order.
During Thursday’s hearing, his counsel argued that the BRS could have condoned his conduct. The Supreme Court observed that the relevant provision cited by the counsel applies to voting or abstaining against a party whip and not to voluntarily giving up membership of a political party.
With the Supreme Court dismissing the challenge, the High Court’s disqualification order remains in force and the Khairatabad Assembly seat remains vacant.
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