Danam Nagender Moves Supreme Court Against Telangana High Court Disqualification

Telangana MLA Danam Nagender has approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court judgment that disqualified him from the State Assembly under the anti-defection law.

How the dispute arose

Nagender won the Khairatabad Assembly seat in 2023 as a Bharat Rashtra Samithi candidate. He later joined the Congress and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket.

Petitions seeking his disqualification were rejected by the Telangana Assembly Speaker. That decision was challenged before the High Court.

High Court ruling under challenge

A Division Bench of the Telangana High Court set aside the Speaker's decision and held that Nagender incurred disqualification under the Tenth Schedule. The Court treated April 23, 2024, the date on which he contested the Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate, as the effective date of disqualification.

The High Court also declared the Khairatabad seat vacant and declined to keep its judgment in abeyance for an appeal.

Supreme Court proceedings

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi mentioned Nagender's challenge before the Supreme Court and sought urgent listing, referring to the possibility of a fresh election notification. The Chief Justice said the matter would be listed on September 23. No final view on the disqualification has yet been expressed by the Supreme Court.