Is This A Landmark Direction On Defections?

The Telangana High Court today directed the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly to decide upon the disqualification pleas preferred by the BRS and BJP MLAs against the defection of three BRS MLAs to the Congress Party, within four weeks.

The Court directed the Assembly Secretary to place the file of the disqualification petitions before the Speaker, where the Speaker was instructed to decide on the pleas within four weeks. While disposing of the petitions, the Court indicated that the case would be re-opened suo moto if the Speaker fails to decide within four weeks.

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The Congress party has to split two-thirds of the BRS party now or lose the MLAs that joined. The bigger problem is facing the by-elections in those seats.

We will have to see if this judgment can show a direction about how to deal with the defections.

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Until recently, the offices of the Speakers evaded the court’s directions saying they were independent. The court also gave ambiguous judgments on this issue and mostly did not interfere.

This is the first time there is a time-bound direction. If the court can force action by the High Court, it can become exemplary to all the states in the country.

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BRS, in particular, made a mockery of democracy by decimating political parties in the name of defections and merging of the parties. 2014-2023 has been a nightmare for Opposition parties. Now the same BRS party is waging a legal battle against the defections.