Validity Of TTDP Merger With TRS To Be Decided By High Court  

Hyderabad: Justice MS Ramachandra Rao of Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday reserved orders in a petition filed by Telangana TDP MLA A. Revanth Reddy challenging the decision of the Speaker in merging his party with ruling TRS.

Suspension or nullification of the bulletin would mean that all 12 defecting MLAs would continue to be treated as TDP MLAs till the petitions seeking their disqualification were decided by the Speaker.  

Revanth also challenged the validity of allotment of seats to the 12 defected TDP MLAs in the Assembly in the treasury benches. Stating that the Speaker, who is also Chairman of the Tribunal under Schedule X, only has the jurisdiction to decide on disqualification and cannot decide on the merger of a political party independently as per the Constitution, he sought a stay on the bulletin published by the secretary of Telangana legislature to this effect.

Petitioner’s counsel Jandhyala Ravi Sankar told the court that Speaker should have taken a decision on TDP pleas seeking disqualification of the defectors. The question of merger would not have arisen if that was done, he contended.

Appearing for the legislature secretary, Advocate General K. Ramakrishna Reddy said that the decision of the Speaker was part of his day’s schedule, and hence could not be reviewed by the courts. The decisions of the Speaker acting as a tribunal under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution while deciding disqualification pleas could be taken up for legal scrutiny, but his actions in regulating the House and its day-to-day affairs are not in the domain of judicial scrutiny, he argued.

When the Additional AG J. Ramachandra Rao sought time to argue the case of 12 TDP MLAs who switched over to TRS, the judge declined to give the counsel any more time saying the case had already taken a lot of the court’s time. The counsel chose not to argue the case contending that he was not adequately prepared to do so. Following this, the judge reserved orders in the matter. The date of pronouncement of the verdict was not fixed yet.