SC Notice to Telangana Assembly Speaker, MLAs

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to Telangana assembly speaker and MLAs of various political parties who defected to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), directing them to file within three weeks their counter to the allegations that their conduct is contrary to the spirit of constitution and antidefection laws.

When TRS came to power in 2014, it had only 63 MLAs. The strength of the ruling TRS party in the state assembly went up to 89 in 2016.

Petitioners’ advocate Jandhyala Ravi Shankar told the bench headed by Justice Kurian Joseph that the Telangana government was encouraging defections in a massive way. When TRS came to power in 2014, it had only 63 MLAs. The strength of the ruling TRS party in the state assembly went up to 89 in 2016. This this was made possible through huge defections engineered by the TRS, he said.

Ravi Shankar said the Speaker did not take action on pleas for disqualification of the defectors. The bench ordered issuance of notices to both the speaker and the defectors.