Petition Filed Against The Speaker

YSR Congress Party approached the Supreme Court against the assembly speaker for his negligence in taking action against the MLAs who had defected the party for ruling TDP.

YSRCP's MP of Nellore, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy filed a petition in the Supreme Court appealing to order the speaker to act immediately on their complaints and disqualify the defected MLAs and to issue notices to all the defectors mentioned by them. Listed as opponents in this petition are the speaker and the general secretary of the assembly and 16 MLAs Bhuma Nagireddy, Bhuma Akhilapriya, C.Adinarayana Reddy, Jaleel Khan, T.Jayaramulu, P.David Raju, M.Mani Gandhi, K.Venkata Ramana Murthy, Pasam Sunil Kumar, Jyotula Nehru, Varupula Subbarao, RV Sujaya Rangarao, Attar Chand Basha, G.Ravi Kumar, K..Sarveswara Rao and B.Rajasekhara Reddy. Here are the details of the petition filed.

YSRCP, being the principal opposition party, has been unselfishly fighting for alleviation of people's problems and questioning the unfair behaviour of the ruling party. Unable to digest the strength and efficiency of the opposition party, the ruling party has raised curtains for party defection. It is enticing the MLAs of belonging to YSRCP in certain ways. Ministries are being used as lure. The party defection encouraged by the ruling party is causing problem to the infrastructure of democracy. The speaker who is supposed to prevent party defection and protect the democratic and constitutional values is behaving in the opposite manner. It has been a month since he received complaint against the first batch of defectors. But he has not taken any action like issuing notices to them. Hence, the ruling party is continuing to encourage party defection. The defectors are comfortably attending assembly sessions. The speaker is giving little importance to the regulations of the tenth schedule. Such behaviour from a speaker is partial, atrocious and anticonstitutional.

The defectors have contested in the elections from YSRCP with the symbol of it and won. They have used the image, honour, principles as well as the funds of the party ti win. Later they have migrated to TDP, which is YSRCP's principal opponent. This is nothing but deceiving the people who have voted for them in hope for YSR's principles and ideals being implemented. The speaker has the responsibility to take action against such members. YSRCP has already presented proofs and reported to the speaker against the defectors requesting for their disqualification.

The media has already presented the way the defectors of YSRCP had joined the ruling party and continued as members of that party, praising it. The defectors never even have condemned these reports. This has been reported to the speaker. It has also been explained how they would have to be disqualified according to 10th schedule of the constitution. Neither the assembly regulations nor the 10th schedule has clear information regarding the time limit for the speaker's taking action. The speaker has made good use of this loophole and kept dragging the issue without taking any step. It has been more than a month now since the complaint was lodged but no action has been taken.

The Supreme Court has clearly stated that the speaker's favouritistic decisions and his actions were not protected by the 10th schedule of the constitution. The Supreme Court has explained on the occasion of Kihoto Hollohon vs. Zachillhu case about the way the 10th schedule was brought in the constitution for protecting democratic values through prevention of defection of public representatives. The speaker's negligence towards solving the complaint presented to him against the defectors is nothing but negligence towards h8s constitutional duties. The speaker's failure in taking action on the complaints is nothing but his failure in controlling defection.

In the whole scenario, the speaker's behaviour reflects harm to democratic values and assembly's integrity. The Supreme Court has defined the speaker's duties in occasion of various verdicts. The ruling party is unhinderedly continuing to encourage defection due to intentional delay by the speaker. In such a situation, YSRCP has filed the petition with no other option.