Written by: Express News Service2 min readApr 17, 2026 10:54 AM ISTThe BRS has maintained that the Speaker’s decision to dismiss the disqualification petitions against the MLAs was a mockery of the anti-defection law. (Express File Photo)Taking into account the pleas filed against the 10 MLAs who won the 2023 Assembly polls on a BRS ticket and are alleged to have soon defected to the ruling Congress party, the Telangana High Court Thursday directed the legislators to file their counter-affidavits within three weeks.A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin was hearing writ petitions by BRS MLAs challenging the Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar’s dismissal of disqualification pleas against defecting legislators. The court had earlier issued notices to all 10 MLAs.On Thursday, the counsel for the respondent MLAs sought time to file their counter-affidavits.When the bench granted three weeks for respondent MLAs to file counters and another three weeks for petitioners to respond, proposing to hear the case after the summer vacation, the petitioners’ counsel expressed concern that delays might occur and urged the court to set a firm deadline for filing counters.“After the Supreme Court said three months (in MLAs disqualification matters), they (state and the Speaker) took one year. Several of them would not file counters and may seek time,” one of the petitioners’ counsel contended.Taking note, the bench directed the counters to be filed by May 6 “positively” and agreed to hear the matter on the same day.The Bharat Rashtra Samithi has maintained that the Speaker’s decision to dismiss the disqualification petitions against the MLAs, citing a lack of evidence, was a mockery of the anti-defection law. Alleging inaction by the Speaker regarding the disqualification petitions against 10 of its MLAs, who allegedly defected to Congress, BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy earlier approached the Supreme Court.Story continues below this adIn July 2025, the Supreme Court directed the Speaker to decide on the petitions within three months.In February 2026, the Supreme Court gave a ‘final opportunity’, directing Gaddam Prasad Kumar to ‘positively’ decide the matter within three weeks. Between December 2025 and March 2026, the Speaker dismissed the petitions citing ‘lack of conclusive documentary evidence’. © IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd