Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad:The Telangana High Court on Thursday continued hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Assembly Speaker’s decision rejecting disqualification petitions against 10 BRS MLAs who allegedly joined the Congress without resigning from the pink party.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin heard the petition filed by BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, who challenged the Speaker’s March 11, 2026 order in the disqualification proceedings concerning Nagender.

The petitioner sought a declaration that Nagender stood disqualified under paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule from April 23, 2024, the date on which he filed nomination affidavit for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He sought consequential directions, including recovery of benefits allegedly received by Nagender as an MLA from that date. Senior counsel A Venkatesh, appearing for Nagender, opposed the plea and argued that the disqualification petition itself was not maintainable as it failed to comply with the mandatory requirements of the Telangana Legislative Assembly Members’ Disqualification Rules. Referring to Rule 6, he submitted that a disqualification petition could be made to the Speaker only by a member of the House. He pointed out that the rules require the petition and its annexures to be properly signed and verified.