SC deliberates if HC can ask Assembly Speaker to act within particular time

New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday deliberated whether a high court could ask a legislative assembly speaker to act within a particular time to decide on the pleas seeking disqualification of lawmakers.
     A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih was hearing arguments on the pleas raising the issue of alleged delay by the Telangana Assembly Speaker in deciding on the petitions seeking disqualification of some BRS MLAs who had defected to the Congress.
     "We are not going into the merits of the matter. We are only on the question as to whether a high court can.... when the speaker does not exercise his jurisdiction, direct the speaker to act in accordance with law within a particular period," the bench observed.
     One of the pleas in the apex court has challenged the November 2024 verdict of the Telangana High Court in a matter concerning petitions seeking the disqualification of three BRS MLAs who joined the ruling Congress party in the state.
     The other petition before the top court relates to the remaining seven legislators who defected.
     A division bench of the high court had in November last year said the legislative assembly speaker must decide the disqualification petitions against the three MLAs within a "reasonable time".
     The division bench had delivered its verdict on the appeals challenging the September 9, 2024 order of a single judge.
     The single judge had directed the secretary of the Telangana Assembly to forthwith place the petition seeking disqualification before the Speaker for fixing a schedule of hearing within four weeks.
     During the arguments on Tuesday, senior advocate C A Sundaram, appearing for BRS leader Padi Kaushik Reddy, said the basic question is whether a constitutional court has the power, authority and jurisdiction to require a constitutional authority to act as per their constitutional mandate.
     He said "the Constitution stands above all of us" and it was the constitutional duty of a court to see that the Constitution was adhered to.
     Sundaram said it would be a total miscarriage of justice to say that a court was denuded of the power to ensure that an authority acted in accordance with the Constitution.
     "The issue is very limited -- whether the single judge was justified in requesting the speaker to fix a schedule within four weeks," the bench observed.
     It said the apex court would also examine whether the division bench was correct in interfering with the single judge's order.
     Justice Gavai observed that the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which pertained to provisions as to disqualification on the ground of defection, was brought only to avoid 'Aaya Ram Gaya Ram'.
     The arguments in the matter would continue on April 2.
     On March 4, the apex court sought responses from the Telangana government and others on the pleas, saying a timely decision was the key and there could not be a case of "operation successful but patient is dead".
     The bench had observed that the decision on pleas for disqualification of the lawmakers "cannot go on till the end of the assembly session".
     The court had issued notices to the office of the Speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, the secretary of the Assembly and the Election Commission.
     It had also sought the responses of MLAs Danam Nagender, Venkata Rao Tellam and Kadiyam Srihari.
     While hearing the matter on February 10, the apex court said in a democracy, the rights of a party could not be permitted to be frustrated.
     It had asked what would be the "reasonable time" for the Telangana Assembly Speaker to decide pleas seeking disqualification of these MLAs.
     The counsel appearing for the petitioners had said a three-judges' bench of the apex court had expressly said a "reasonable time" would mean within three months, barring exceptional circumstances.
     The petitioners -- BRS MLAs K P Vivekanand and P Kaushik Reddy, and BJP floor leader in Assembly Alleti Maheshwar Reddy -- had moved the high court seeking a direction to the Speaker to decide on disqualification petitions that were filed before him.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)