Legislative Assembly Speaker Acts as Tribunal Under Tenth Schedule: Supreme Court Rules No Immunity Under Article 122 and 212
Overview of the Judgment
The Supreme Court of India, in the matter of Padi Kaushik Reddy Etc. Vs State of Telangana And Others Etc., delivered a significant constitutional ruling affirming that the Speaker of a Legislative Assembly, when discharging adjudicatory functions under the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India, acts in the capacity of a Tribunal. In this capacity, the Speaker does not enjoy constitutional immunity from judicial scrutiny under Article 122 or Article 212 of the Constitution. The Court allowed the appeals, directing that disqualification petitions be decided in a time-bound manner.
Background and Factual Matrix
Elections and Party Affiliations
Following the notification issued by the Hon'ble Governor of Telangana on 3rd November 2023 — acting upon the recommendation of the Election Commission of India — general elections to the Telangana State Legislative Assembly were scheduled. In pursuance thereof:
- One Danam Nagender filed his nomination on 6th November 2023 as a candidate of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from the Khairatabad Assembly Constituency.
- Venkata Rao Tellam and Kadiyam Srihari filed their nominations on 9th November 2023 from Bhadrachalam Assembly Constituency and Ghanpur Station Constituency respectively, also as BRS candidates.
Elections were conducted on 30th November 2023, and results were declared on 3rd December 2023. All three candidates — Danam Nagender, Venkata Rao Tellam, and Kadiyam Srihari — emerged victorious from their respective constituencies. The Indian National Congress (INC) emerged as the single largest party and, along with its allies, formed the Government in the State.
Alleged Defections and Disqualification Petitions
The appellants alleged that:
- Danam Nagender joined the INC on 15th March 2024.
- Kadiyam Srihari joined the INC on 31st March 2024.
- Venkata Rao Tellam joined the INC on 7th April 2024.
In response to these alleged defections, Padi Kaushik Reddy and Kuna Pandu Vivekanand, both MLAs of the BRS party and appellants in the lead matter, filed separate disqualification petitions under Paragraph 2(1) of the Tenth Schedule read with Article 191(2) of the Constitution of India and Rules 6(1) and 6(2) of the Members of Telangana Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, before the Telangana State Legislative Assembly on 18th March 2024, 2nd April 2024, and 8th April 2024. The uniform prayer across all three petitions sought a declaration from the Speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly that the BRS MLAs who had crossed over to the INC be held disqualified from continuing as members of the Assembly.
Additionally, Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, an MLA of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the appellant in the connected matter, also filed a separate disqualification petition against Danam Nagender on 1st July 2024.
Proceedings Before the High Court
Writ Petitions Filed Due to Inaction by the Speaker
Aggrieved by the conspicuous inaction and prolonged delay on the part of the Speaker in taking up and deciding the disqualification petitions, the appellants filed three separate Writ Petitions before the High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad, being Writ Petition Nos. 9472, 11098 & 18553 of 2024:
- The first two Writ Petitions were filed on 10th April 2024 and 24th April 2024.
- The third Writ Petition was filed on 9th July 2024.
Order of the Single Judge
On 9th September 2024, a learned Single Judge of the High Court, by a common judgment and order, directed the Secretary of the Telangana Legislative Assembly to forthwith place the disqualification petitions before the Speaker for the purpose of fixing a schedule of hearing — covering filing of pleadings, submission of documents, and personal hearing — within a period of four weeks. It was further directed that the schedule so fixed be communicated to the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court. The Single Judge also clarified that in the event no action was taken within four weeks, the matter would be reopened suo motu and appropriate orders would be passed.
Division Bench Reversal
The Secretary of the Telangana Legislative Assembly challenged the Single Judge's order through three intra-court appeals — Writ Appeal Nos. 1157, 1158 & 1160 of 2024. On 22nd November 2024, a Division Bench of the High Court, by a common judgment and final order, set aside the judgment of the learned Single Judge, thereby disposing of the Writ Appeals.
Aggrieved by this reversal, the present appeals were filed before the Supreme Court by way of Special Leave Petitions.