Supreme Court's notice to Telangana over BRS MLAs disqualification 'delay'

The Supreme Court issued notices to the Telangana government, Assembly Speaker, and others over the delay in deciding disqualification petitions against seven BRS MLAs who defected to Congress. The next hearing is scheduled for March 25, with formal notices now issued to all respondents.

In Short

• Supreme Court questions delay in Telangana MLAs’ disqualification
• Top court asks whether the process will last till the term’s end
• Next hearing set for March 25 after formal notice issuance

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Telangana government and others over petitions alleging that the Telangana Legislative Assembly Speaker has delayed deciding on disqualification pleas against seven Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs who contested on a BRS ticket, but defected to the ruling Congress.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih sought responses from the state government, the Speaker’s office, the Telangana Legislative Assembly Secretary, the Election Commission of India, and the defected MLAs. The court issued a formal notice and scheduled the next hearing for March 25.

During the hearing, the court questioned the prolonged delay in deciding on disqualification pleas, stating, "The process will go on till the end of the term? What happens to democratic principles then?" The bench also remarked, "Every matter can’t be an operation successful, patient dead," emphasising that delays could render the decision meaningless.

The court recalled that on January 31, it had asked the counsels about a time frame for resolving the matter, but no clear commitment was made. While the respondents’ counsels objected, stating that no formal notice had been issued in the case, the court termed it a "hyper-technical" argument and ensured that no further objections could be raised on this ground.