‘Ghar Wapsi Won’t Save You’: SC Upholds Disqualification of MLA Who Quit BRS

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the disqualification of former Telangana MLA Danam Nagender, rejecting his challenge to a Telangana High Court ruling under the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, dismissed Nagender's appeal and found no reason to interfere with the High Court's decision.

What the Supreme Court said on ‘Ghar Wapsi’

During the hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Nagender, argued that his subsequent return to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) should be taken into account.

The bench rejected that argument. Justice Bagchi questioned how a return to the original party could restore the Assembly membership after a defection had already occurred.

The court observed, “How will your ghar wapasi to your party save you?”, adding that once an act attracting disqualification is committed, returning to the party does not restore membership of the House.

Why Danam Nagender was disqualified

Nagender was elected from Khairatabad in the 2023 Telangana Assembly election on a BRS ticket.

He joined the Congress in March 2024 and subsequently contested the Secunderabad Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate while still holding his Assembly seat. He lost that election to BJP's G Kishan Reddy.

The Telangana High Court later held that his conduct attracted disqualification under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule, which deals with voluntarily giving up membership of a political party.

The High Court declared him disqualified with effect from April 23, 2024, the date associated with his Congress candidature for the Lok Sabha election, and held that the Khairatabad Assembly seat had fallen vacant.

Speaker's earlier decision overturned

The case reached the High Court after Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar had dismissed petitions seeking Nagender's disqualification.

The BRS and BJP subsequently approached the High Court. The High Court set aside the Speaker's decision and ordered Nagender's disqualification.

Nagender then approached the Supreme Court, seeking relief against the High Court judgment. The apex court has now declined to interfere, leaving the High Court's order undisturbed.

Tenth Schedule and party switching

The case centres on India's anti-defection law, contained in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

During the Supreme Court hearing, the bench also distinguished between the provisions dealing with voluntarily giving up party membership and voting or abstaining against a party direction.

The court indicated that the provision relied upon by Nagender's counsel concerning condonation related to a different part of the Tenth Schedule and could not undo the consequence arising under Paragraph 2(1)(a).

What the ruling means for the Khairatabad seat

With the Supreme Court dismissing Nagender's challenge, the High Court's finding that the Khairatabad Assembly seat became vacant from April 23, 2024 remains in force.

The judgment is also relevant to other Telangana legislators who switched from the BRS to the Congress in 2024, although the legal position of each individual will depend on the facts and proceedings in their respective cases. Hindustan Times reported that Nagender was among 10 BRS legislators who crossed over to Congress, while one of them has since returned to the BRS.

The Supreme Court's ruling settles Nagender's appeal but does not, by itself, determine the outcome of separate proceedings involving other legislators.