Hyderabad: High court on Wednesday issued notices to assembly speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar and seven MLAs who won the election on a BRS ticket and allegedly defected to the ruling Congress party.A division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin directed them to file counters in response to petitions by BRS MLAs challenging the speaker’s decision dismissing the disqualification petitions filed against the defected MLAs.The petitions in the court were filed against MLAs T Prakash Goud, Venkat Rao Tellam, Arikepudi Gandhi, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, Kale Yadaiah, Parige (Pocharam) Srinivas Reddy, and Danam Nagender, seeking to stay the speaker’s decision in the disqualification petitions against them and calling for relevant records from the speaker’s office.BJP MLA A Maheshwar Reddy also filed a petition in the HC against Nagender. The bench directed that the matters be tagged along with Nagender’s earlier matter and adjourned the matters to April 16 for further hearing.During the hearing in Hyderabad, the petitioners’ counsel contended that the respondent MLAs officially joined the Congress party in the presence of the chief minister A Revanth Reddy, which was broadcast live on television and documented extensively in the media.The counsel said the defected members were seen wearing Congress party kanduvas and later admitted in interviews that they had switched parties. The counsel added that they also actively participated in Congress public meetings and encouraged others to join the party.The counsel further argued that one of them, Danam Nagender, contested the parliament election on a Congress ticket and Pocharam Srinivas Reddy was appointed as an advisor to the govt with cabinet status. The counsel added that Srinivas Reddy even admitted publicly that his appointment was a promised incentive for joining the party.Further, the counsel who appeared for the speaker in the Supreme Court and HC guided the speaker during the proceedings in disqualification petitions, which were never heard in the judicial functioning.“Despite these public developments, disqualification petitions against the members were all rejected by the assembly speaker on the same day. Moreover, all the dismissal orders were nearly identical in wording, differing only by the name of the legislator,” added the counsel.Meanwhile, the standing counsel for the Telangana state legislature, appearing for the speaker, informed the bench that the speaker, as a tribunal, had to maintain constitutional neutrality in such matters.After recording the submissions, the bench adjourned the matter.
