Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Monday heard a challenge to the composition of the Telangana legislative council, with a petitioner contending that the allocation of seats among various categories of MLCs has deviated from the constitutional framework envisaged under Article 171 and diluted the governor’s nomination quota.The court issued notices to the state govt, state legislative affairs and justice department and also directed the additional solicitor general of India to be ready in the matter on the next hearing date. According to petitioner Syed Iftequar Hussaini, the impugned provision shifted two MLC seats from the governor’s quota to the municipalities’ and MLAs’ quotas, thereby upsetting the constitutional balance envisaged for the Council.Counsel for the petitioner, Barkat Ali Khan, argued that the respondent govts applied the constitutional formula inconsistently, resulting in an arbitrary calculation of seats contrary to Article 171(3) and in violation of Articles 14, 171(3)(a) and 171(3)(d) of the Constitution. A division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sridevi posted the matter to next week for further hearing.Khan contended that the framers of the Constitution had carefully finalised the council’s composition after detailed deliberations in the Constituent Assembly. However, section 23, which came into force on June 2, 2014, disturbed this balance.He argued that while Article 171(5) empowers the governor to nominate persons having special knowledge or practical experience, increasing the seats allocated to local authorities and MLAs from 13 to 14 each effectively reduced the governor’s nomination quota by 25%.According to the petitioner, this reduction curtails the representation of experts and undermines the constitutional scheme governing legislative councils.The petitioner urged the court to constitute an independent five-member expert committee to review the allocation and composition of the state legislative council in strict conformity with Article 171 and fix a timeline for submission of its report.The plea also sought a comprehensive review of all MLC nominations made under Articles 171(3)(e) and 171(5) to determine whether they satisfy the constitutional requirements of expertise and eminence.The petitioner requested the court to direct the respondents to file a report specifying the category under which the existing six nominated members were appointed and to restrain all council proceedings, elections and appointments pending disposal of the writ petition.
