The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Wednesday a petition filed by Telangana MLA Danam Nagender challenging his disqualification as a member of Telangana legislative assembly for contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as a Congress candidate even when he continued to remain as MLA belonging to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant permitted urgent listing after the matter was mentioned by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who appeared for Nagender. This period corresponds with the time he contested for the Lok Sabha polls from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket. The high court order passed on September 18 disqualified Nagender’s continuation as MLA with effect from April 2024.
Nagender won on a BRS ticket from the Khairatabad assembly constituency in 2023 and was part of 10 BRS legislators who defected to the Congress. Senior advocate P Mohith Rao, on behalf of Kaushik Reddy, stated he filed a caveat in the Supreme Court, asking it to hear the BRS version before taking up the hearing on Nagender’s plea. The decision disqualifying Nagender created a flutter in the state, with the BJP and BRS targeting Congress for accommodating turncoat politicians.
“In any case, the Supreme Court may not stay the high court order,” he said. On the other hand, Maheshwar Reddy said he, too, moved the Supreme Court with a caveat to ensure he was heard before any interim relief or stay was granted. “We shall fight the case till the logical end,” Reddy said.
