Danam Takes Disqualification Battle to SC

Former Telangana MLA, Danam Nagender, on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Telangana High Court's order disqualifying him as a member of the Legislative Assembly under the anti-defection law.

The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who sought an urgent hearing.

After hearing the request, CJI Kant agreed to list Nagender's Special Leave Petition (SLP) on Wednesday.

Nagender has challenged the Telangana High Court’s decision, which set aside the order passed by Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar dismissing petitions seeking his disqualification and declared him disqualified as an MLA with effect from April 23, 2024.

In a judgment delivered on September 18, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin held that Nagender stood disqualified under paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule read with Article 191(2) of the Constitution, after he contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Secunderabad constituency as a candidate set up by the Congress despite being elected as a BRS MLA.

The High Court also declared the Khairatabad Assembly seat vacant and directed that a copy of its order be communicated to the Secretary to the Telangana Legislative Assembly and the Election Commission of India.

The judgment came on petitions filed by BJP Legislature Party leader, Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, and BRS MLA, Padi Kaushik Reddy, challenging the Speaker's March 11, 2026 decision dismissing the disqualification petitions.

The High Court decision recorded that Nagender was elected as a BRS MLA from Khairatabad in December 2023 and subsequently filed his nomination on April 23, 2024 as a Congress candidate for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, where he campaigned against the BRS candidate.

The High Court held that the prolonged pendency of the disqualification proceedings meant that the matter need not be remanded to the Speaker for a fresh decision.

It observed: "The present case is one where the disqualification proceedings have lingered on for more than one-and-half-years and by now almost the three year term of the Legislative Assembly has expired."

It further held that Nagender "stands disqualified from 23.04.2024" as a member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, having contested the Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate despite being a BRS member.

The High Court rejected the argument that subsequent conduct of Nagender or the absence of disciplinary action by the BRS could negate the disqualification.

It said that "silence of the party in question or lack of internal disciplinary action by it and the subsequent conduct of the member would not efface the disqualification incurred" by Nagender by contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate despite having been elected as a BRS MLA.

The High Court also held that the Speaker had misread the law by treating conduct outside the House as falling outside the scope of his powers under paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule.

The High Court said the object of the Tenth Schedule was "to curb the evil of political defections motivated by lure of office or other similar considerations which endanger the foundations of our democracy."