Speakers declaration challenged

Justice M S Ramachandra Rao of the High Court at Hyderabad on Monday issued notice to the Speaker of the Telangana State Assembly in a writ plea filed by TDP working President A Revanth Reddy.

The petitioner questioned the merger of the TDP (Telangana wing) with the TRS and the issuance of a bulletin by the Speaker recognising the said merger.

The petitioner also sought a declaration that keeping the disqualification petition pending and deciding the merger under Paras 4 of the X Schedule were illegal and unconstitutional. The Speaker should decide an application filed for disqualification of the members and pending the same the impugned declaration could not have been made.

The petitioner pointed out that in the election to the first Assembly of the newly-formed State of Telangana 15 candidates of Telangana Telugu Desam Party got elected on Telugu Desam party ticket. However, 12 of them from time to time moved over to the TRS.

It was further pointed out that when Eraballi Dayakar Rao and four others had changed the tracks, a complaint for anti- deflection was made before the Speaker as required under the law. It was the case of the petitioner that without an adjudication of the same the Speaker had no independent power to deal with the application of merger.

Ravishanker Jhandyala, counsel for the petitioner, pointed out that the action of the Speaker in issuing the bulletin under challenge, merging one political party with another political party without knowing the fundamental difference between a political party and a legislature party amounts to non-application of mind, malafide, absurd, redundant, repugnant and colourable exercise of power.