Speaker’s decision cannot stand judicial review: HC

Disqualifying Danam Nagender as an MLA, the Telangana High Court on Friday observed that the Assembly Speaker’s finding of jurisdiction over the disqualification violated the constitutional mandate under Article 191 (2) of the Constitution read with Clause 2 (1) (a) and 2 (1) (b) of the Tenth Schedule.

Referring to the speaker’s remark that the act of contesting a Lok Sabha election on another party’s ticket while being an MLA of a particular party was not constitutionally prohibited, it was perverse in law, the bench observed. The MLA did not deny the material fact that he was elected on a BRS ticket as an MLA in 2023 and his nomination for the post of Secunderabad MP as a Congress candidate, the bench said.

He also campaigned against the BRS candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. When the MLA admitted all the relevant facts, the speaker could not take any other view except that the MLA had absconded from the BRS side, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin said.

The bench held that the Speaker’s decision was unsustainable on grounds of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution as laid down in the Kihoto Hollohan case.

Published – 18 Sep 2026 21:51 IST