The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by former Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, challenging the Telangana High Court's verdict that declared him disqualified from the Telangana Legislative Assembly under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution for defecting from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party to the Indian National Congress.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Jaymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana observed that the High Court's verdict was based on a correct interpretation of the law and that there was no need to interfere with it.
As soon as the matter came up for hearing, Justice Bagchi made a light-hearted remark addressing the petitioner, who was a BRS MLA in 2023 and contested as a Congress candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections: "You had a fixed deposit when you were an MLA, tried the stock market as an MP, and now you have lost that very fixed deposit."
Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that there is a provision in the Tenth Schedule to condone a member's act of relinquishing party membership.
"Ghar wapasi?" Justice Bagchi remarked again in a light-hearted manner. Referring to paragraph 2(1)(b) of the Tenth Schedule, Rohatgi submitted that there is a provision for the party to condone a member's action.
However, the bench clarified that this provision applies only to paragraph 2(1)(b) relating to voting against the whip, and does not apply to paragraph 2(1)(a) relating to relinquishing party membership.
"Is your case 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram, phir aaye Ram'?" Justice Bagchi playfully questioned.
