New Delhi, Feb 6 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Friday issued a final warning to the Speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, directing him to “positively” decide the remaining disqualification petitions within three weeks arising from the defection of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs to the Indian National Congress, failing which contempt proceedings would be initiated.
A Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice A.G. Masih was hearing compliance proceedings in terms of its July 31, 2025, order, by which the Speaker had been granted three months to decide petitions seeking the disqualification of 10 BRS MLAs who allegedly defected to the Congress.
As the Speaker failed to adhere to the timeline, contempt petitions were filed before the Court.
The Court noted that while seven petitions were decided in December 2025 and rejected, three petitions continue to remain pending.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the State of Telangana, informed the Court that a decision had now been taken in one of the pending cases, while decisions in the remaining two were at an advanced stage.
He sought three additional weeks, citing ongoing developments. It was also submitted that municipal elections were underway and that time had earlier been sought by the opposite side.
However, counsel appearing for one of the petitioners objected to the repeated adjournments, submitting that the Speaker had sought time on multiple occasions and that the delay was unjustified despite sufficient hearings having already taken place.
The Bench observed that in the previous hearing, although the Speaker had sought three weeks, the Court had granted only two weeks to assess progress. Considering that at least one decision had now been taken, the Court granted a final extension of three weeks.
“We expect the Speaker to positively take a decision. Failing which, we shall proceed to issue contempt,” the Bench ordered.
After pronouncing the order, Justice Karol made an oral observation requesting the petitioner not to create social media reels on the matter, remarking that such practices were becoming “a new industry”.
The disqualification proceedings pertain to Venkata Rao Tellam, Kadiyam Srihari, and Danam Nagender, who were elected as MLAs on BRS tickets in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, but later defected to the Congress Party.
Alleging prolonged inaction by the Speaker, BRS MLAs Kuna Pandu Vivekananda and Padi Kaushik Reddy, along with BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, approached the Telangana High Court. They contended that the delay in deciding the disqualification pleas could facilitate further defections.
On September 9, 2024, a Single Judge of the High Court directed the Speaker to fix a schedule for hearing the petitions within four weeks.
This order was set aside by a Division Bench in November 2024, which held that the Speaker must decide the petitions within a “reasonable time”.
Challenging the Division Bench order, the petitioners approached the Supreme Court. In July 2025, the apex court set aside the High Court’s Division Bench ruling and directed the Speaker to decide all disqualification petitions within three months, leading to the present contempt proceedings.
