Journalism of Courage
‘Phir aaya Ram’: Supreme Court upholds Telangana MLA’s disqualification
Danam Nagender defected from the BRS to the Congress and unsuccessfully contested a Lok Sabha election while he was still an MLA
Danam Nagender with Telangana CM Revanth Reddy (X/Danam Nagender).
In a setback to the ruling Congress in Telangana, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the state high court’s decision to disqualify MLA Danam Nagender, who had defected from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), under the anti-defection law.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said it found no reason to interfere with the high court’s decision.
Nagender, who won the Khairatabad Assembly seat twice–in 2018 and 2023–defected to the Congress in March 2024 and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from Secunderabad while he was still an MLA, only to lose to the BJP’s G Kishan Reddy.
The Assembly Speaker dismissed petitions filed by the BRS and the BJP seeking Nagender’s disqualification, following which they moved the high court.
On September 18, the high court set aside the Speaker’s decision to let Nagender continue as an MLA.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Nagender in the Supreme Court, argued that the Constitution”s Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) allows condoning a member”s act of giving up party membership.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked in a lighter vein whether he meant to say
“ghar wapsi”.
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The judge added, “You had a fixed deposit as MLA, you tried for share market as MP, and now you lost the Fixed Deposit.”
As senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for a respondent, referred to the phrase “Aaya Ram, gaya Ram”, Justice Bagchi quipped that “Rohatgi’s argument is ‘phir aaya Ram’ ”.
Rohatgi said the “Constitution allows a person to come back, ‘ghar wapsi’, if he regrets” his actions.
Justice V Mohana quickly added, “Ghar wapsi to the party, not to the Assembly”.
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Nagender was elected on a BRS ticket in the December 2023 Assembly elections but quit and joined the Congress. The high court ruling came on the back of a petition filed by BJP floor leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS Huzurabad MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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