NEW DELHI: In a major political and legal development, the Supreme Court of India on Thursday dismissed former Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender’s petition, upholding the Telangana High Court’s ruling that disqualified him from the state Assembly under the anti-defection law.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana ruled that the High Court had correctly interpreted the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and found no merit or ground to interfere with its decision.
The case stems from Nagender’s political transition following the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, where he won the Khairatabad seat as a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidate. Nagender subsequently switched allegiance to the ruling Indian National Congress in March 2024 and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Secunderabad constituency on a Congress ticket while continuing to hold his Assembly seat.
Petitions seeking his disqualification were initially filed before Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar by BJP floor leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy. After the Speaker dismissed the disqualification petitions citing a lack of conclusive evidence, the petitioners approached the Telangana High Court.
On September 18, a division bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin set aside the Speaker’s order, terming it “perverse” and holding that Nagender stood disqualified retroactively from April 23, 2024—the date he filed his Lok Sabha nomination on a Congress ticket. The High Court subsequently declared the Khairatabad seat vacant.
Challenging the High Court’s ruling, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Nagender, argued before the apex court that political parties hold provisions to condone certain member actions under Tenth Schedule rules.
The Supreme Court bench rejected the argument, clarifying that condonation applies to voting against party whips under Paragraph 2(1)(b), not to voluntarily giving up party membership under Paragraph 2(1)(a).
Highlighting the political switching during oral exchanges, Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked. “You had a fixed deposit as MLA, you tried for share market as MP, and now you lost the Fixed Deposit.”
With the Supreme Court affirming the disqualification, Danam Nagender becomes the first legislator in Telangana to be disqualified under anti-defection provisions since the state’s formation.
The ruling cements the vacancy for the Khairatabad Assembly seat, paving the way for the Election Commission of India to schedule a by-election. Legal experts note that the precedent may also impact pending disqualification proceedings involving other legislators who shifted parties following the state elections.
