Court says contesting election for another party amounts to “voluntarily giving up” original party membership; sets aside Speaker’s refusal to act on defection pleas
Hyderabad, Sept. 18, 2026: In a significant ruling on anti-defection law, the Telangana High Court on Thursday set aside the Speaker-cum-Tribunal’s orders rejecting disqualification petitions against BRS MLA Danam Nagender and declared him disqualified from the Telangana Legislative Assembly with effect from April 23, 2024.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin held that a sitting MLA elected on a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) ticket who later filed nomination papers as a candidate set up by the Indian National Congress (INC) for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections had “voluntarily given up” membership of his original party under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution.
The court said formal resignation from the BRS was not necessary. It held that the act of contesting the parliamentary election on Congress’s ticket, coupled with campaigning against the BRS candidate, was enough to attract disqualification under the anti-defection law.
The judgment came in two connected writ petitions filed by BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, both challenging the Speaker’s March 11, 2026 orders in disqualification petitions against the same respondent.
The petitioners argued that the Speaker had wrongly confined his jurisdiction to conduct inside the House and had ignored undisputed documentary evidence, including election affidavits, Gazette notifications, Form 26 filings, and Form 7A records. They also contended that procedural defects under the Telangana Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986 could not override the constitutional mandate.
The High Court agreed. It held that the Speaker’s view—that disqualification under the Tenth Schedule was limited to conduct affecting legislative stability inside the House—was legally unsustainable. The Bench relied on Supreme Court precedents, including Dr. Mahachandra Prasad Singh, Ravi S. Naik, G. Viswanathan, and Kihoto Hollohan, to hold that conduct outside the House can also amount to voluntary abandonment of party membership.
The court further ruled that official election documents carry a presumption of genuineness under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, and that the Speaker erred in treating them as having no evidentiary value merely because they were not certified copies or because no officials were examined. Since the respondent did not deny the core facts—his election as a BRS MLA, his nomination as an INC candidate, and his campaigning against BRS—the court held that no further proof was required.
On the issue of procedure, the Bench said the 1986 Defection Rules are directory and cannot be used to defeat the constitutional purpose of the Tenth Schedule. It rejected the Speaker’s finding that defects in verification of the petition and annexures were fatal.
The court also held that the disqualification took effect from the date the MLA filed his nomination as an INC candidate, i.e., April 23, 2024, and that subsequent conduct or continued recognition by the original party could not erase the taint of defection.
Accordingly, the High Court allowed both writ petitions, set aside the Speaker’s orders, declared the MLA disqualified from the Telangana Assembly, and directed that the vacancy be communicated to the Secretary to the Speaker and the Election Commission of India.
Bottom Line:
Tenth Schedule - Disqualification on ground of defection - Sitting MLA elected on BRS ticket contested Lok Sabha election as candidate set up by INC - Such conduct amounts to voluntarily giving up membership of original political party under para 2(1)(a) of Tenth Schedule - Speaker's view that jurisdiction is confined to conduct within House and that procedural defects in petition were fatal, held unsustainable - Disqualification relates back to date of filing nomination on INC ticket.
Statutory provision(s): Constitution of India, Article 191(2); Members of Telangana Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, Rules 3, 6, 7; Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, Sections 80, 81.
