New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rebuked Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for his alleged statement on the floor of the state assembly that no bye-elections would happen if the MLAs of the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) switched sides to the ruling Congress party.
Slamming the chief minister for his indiscretion, a bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih said, “If this is said on the floor of the house, your Hon’ble CM is making a mockery of the 10th Schedule (anti-defection law).”
The strong disapproval by the bench of the statement by Revanth Reddy came in the course of the hearing of pleas seeking timely decision by the Telangana Assembly Speaker on the petitions seeking the disqualification of certain MLAs of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi party who have crossed over to the ruling Congress party in Telangana.
The chief minister has been quoted to have said on March 20, 2025, on the floor of the state assembly, “Hon’ble Speaker Sir, through you, I want to assure the members that they need not worry about bye-elections. No bye-elections will happen. Even if BRS desires to have one for their seats, there will be none. Even if their members switch sides, there will not be a bye-election.”
During the hearing, senior advocate Aryama Sundaram appearing for the petitioners apprised the bench of Telangana CM’s statements. Highlighting that it was made in the presence of the Speaker.
When senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the Telangana assembly speaker/Secretary expressed his inability to explain the statement by the Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, as he was not appearing for the Chief Minister, and the Assembly proceedings were not in question in the present case, Justice Gavai noted that the senior counsel had earlier appeared for the Chief Minister in another matter – in which too the Chief Minister was rebuked over one of his statements.
Suggesting that the senior advocate Rohatgi warn the Chief Minister against making such controversial statements in the legislature, Justice Gavai said, “Mr. Rohatgi, you have appeared for the Hon’ble Chief Minister once in that case. You better warn that there is no repeat action … we know we are slow in issuing contempt notices, but we are also not powerless.”
In the past, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had landed in trouble when the top court took strong exception to his comments on an order granting bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi Party leader K Kavitha.
The bench further observed, “The statements made in legislatures have sanctity. When politicians say something in the Assembly, it has got sanctity. In fact, the judgements say when we interpret laws, the speech given on the floor of the House can be used for interpreting.”
During today’s hearing, Justice Gavai sought to make a distinction between a statement on a public platform and one on the floor of the state legislature, stating that something being said in “Ramleela Maidan” is different from something said on the Floor of the House. “When politicians say something in the Assembly, it has some sanctity…in fact, the judgment(s) say that when we interpret laws, the statement of the Hon’ble Minister who has given a speech on the floor of the House can be used for interpreting that statute.”
The hearing will continue on Thursday – April 3, 2025.
