Telangana High Court Issues Notices to MLA Danam Nagender and Speaker Over Disqualification Row

Hyderabad, March 23: The Telangana High Court today issued formal notices to Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, Legislative Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, and the Assembly Secretary, in a significant legal turn regarding the state’s ongoing defection row.

The notices were issued by a bench of the High Court while hearing a petition filed by BJP Legislative Party (BJLP) leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy. The petitioner has challenged the Speaker’s recent decision to dismiss the disqualification plea against Nagender, seeking to have that verdict quashed.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that Danam Nagender’s actions constituted a clear violation of the Tenth Schedule (Anti-Defection Law). Key points raised include his shift from the BRS to the Congress party and his decision to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate from Secunderabad while still holding his position as a BRS MLA. The petitioner argued that the act of filing a nomination from a different party should be sufficient grounds for automatic disqualification, citing precedents set by the Supreme Court in similar cases from Karnataka and Bihar.

This court intervention comes just twelve days after Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar dismissed disqualification petitions against Nagender and nine other BRS-turned-Congress MLAs on March 11. At the time, the Speaker ruled that there was “no conclusive documentary evidence” to prove voluntary defection. The High Court has now directed the respondents to file their counter-affidavits within four weeks to explain the rationale behind the dismissal and address the allegations of constitutional violation.

The High Court has adjourned the matter for further hearing on April 16, 2026. Legal experts suggest that the outcome of this case could set a vital precedent for how “soft defections” and the Speaker’s discretionary powers are handled in Telangana moving forward.