The SupremeCourt on Monday issued a contempt notice to the Telangana Assembly Speaker for failing to comply with its directive to rule on disqualification petitions brought against 10 Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs who had defected to the ruling Congress party.
In July, a bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice BR Gavai, had ordered the Speaker to reach a decision within three months regarding the disqualification of the 10 BRS legislators.
The CJI-led bench described the non-compliance with its earlier order as the “grossest kind of contempt,” whilst issuing summons to the Speaker and others over the petitions lodged by the BRS officials.
The bench did, however, grant an exemption to the Telangana Speaker and the other parties from personal attendance before the court until further notice.
A separate plea was also considered by the bench, which had been filed on behalf of the Speaker’s office, requesting an extension of time by a further eight weeks to make a ruling on the disqualification pleas.
Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Abhishek Singhvi, along with lawyer Sravan Kumar, representing the Speaker’s office, said they were seeking a time extension.
One of the lawyers informed the court that the hearings for four disqualification petitions were concluded, and in three instances, the recording of evidence was finished.
“This should have been concluded…This is the grossest kind of contempt…It is for him to decide where he wants to celebrate the new year,” the CJI said.
The bench has now adjourned the matters for further hearing in four weeks’ time.
Rohatgi assured the bench that he would personally convey the court’s grave view to the Speaker’s office and expressed hope that rulings would be made within four weeks.
The apex court previously agreed on 10 November to hear the petition seeking contempt proceedings against the Telangana Speaker on 17 November.
The contempt petition arises from the Supreme Court’s 31 July judgment, which was delivered by a bench comprising the CJI and Justice AG Masih, in a series of writ petitions submitted by BRS leaders KT Rama Rao , Padi Kaushik Reddy, and KO Vivekanand.
The apex court reiterated that the Speaker acts as a tribunal whilst making decisions on disqualification pleas under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, and consequently, does not enjoy “constitutional immunity.”
The Tenth Schedule sets out the regulations concerning disqualification on the basis of defection.
