New Delhi, Sep 24: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed former Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender’s petition challenging the Telangana High Court judgment disqualifying him as an MLA under the anti-defection law.
According to the Live Law portal, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana said that the High Court had correctly interpreted the law and that there was no reason for the Supreme Court to interfere with its decision.
During the hearing, Justice Joymalya Bagchi made a light-hearted remark about Nagender’s political journey. He said, “You had a fixed deposit as MLA, you tried for share market as MP, and now you lost the Fixed Deposit.”
Nagender’s senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi argued that the Tenth Schedule contains a provision allowing a political party to condone the act of a member. Responding to this, Justice Bagchi jokingly asked, “Ghar Wapasi?”
When the counsel referred to Paragraph 2(1)(b) of the Tenth Schedule, the bench pointed out that the provision applies to a member voting against the party whip. It does not apply to Paragraph 2(1)(a), which deals with voluntarily giving up membership of a political party.
Justice Bagchi then made another light-hearted remark, asking, “Your case is ‘aaya Ram, gaya Ram, phir aaya Ram’?”
The counsel appearing for the BRS told the court that the party had not condoned Nagender’s actions. The counsel also pointed out that a BRS member had filed the petition seeking his disqualification.
The Supreme Court subsequently held that there was no ground to interfere with the Telangana High Court judgment and dismissed Nagender’s plea.
Nagender was elected as the MLA from Khairatabad in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections on a BRS ticket. He later joined the Congress and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad as a Congress candidate while continuing as a sitting BRS MLA.
The Telangana High Court had earlier set aside the decision of Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, who had rejected petitions seeking Nagender’s disqualification under the anti-defection law.
The High Court held that Nagender incurred disqualification after contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate while continuing as an MLA elected on a BRS ticket. The disqualification was made effective from April 23, 2024, the date he contested the Secunderabad Lok Sabha election.
The High Court also held that the Khairatabad Assembly seat had fallen vacant, paving the way for a fresh election.
