Will Seek Legal Advice on SC Order: Speaker Gaddam Prasad

 Hyderabad: Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar said he would consult legal experts regarding the Supreme Court’s directive mandating him to decide on the disqualification petitions against 10 BRS MLAs who joined the Congress, within three months. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Prasad Kumar clarified that he would not comment on the matter until he had thoroughly reviewed the Supreme Court’s judgment and obtained legal advice.

The Supreme Court’s ruling, delivered on Thursday, set a three-month deadline for the Speaker to act on the disqualification petitions filed by BRS against the MLAs who defected to Congress. The Speaker, however, said that before proceeding with any decision, he would carefully examine the judgment and consult legal experts.

The Speaker also referred to the remarks made by Jagdeep Dhankhar, former vice president of India, in April this year. Dhankhar had criticised the Supreme Court’s intervention in setting deadlines for the President of India to act on Bills passed by state Legislative Assemblies and reserved by Governors.

Dhankhar had termed the court’s intervention a worrying development, expressing concern that the judiciary was overstepping its constitutional boundaries and encroaching on the roles of the executive and legislature. “India was never meant to have a democracy where judges function as lawmakers, the executive and even as a ‘super Parliament’,” Dhankhar had said.

“I will consult legal experts on the Supreme Court’s orders regarding the disqualification of BRS MLAs. We have all seen what former Vice President Dhankhar said when the Supreme Court set similar deadlines earlier,” Prasad Kumar said. He reiterated that the Legislature Secretariat had already issued notices to the BRS MLAs in response to petitions filed by BRSLP against them.

He said no further comments could be made until he had a complete understanding of the judgment.