telangana

Telangana High Court Delays Verdict on Danam Nagender Disqualification Petition to Friday

The Telangana High Court has postponed its decision on the disqualification petition against former BRS MLA Danam Nagender to Friday, extending a legal battle that began after his 2024 party switch. The case stems from petitions filed by BJP and BRS legislators following Nagender’s defection to Congress and a Supreme Court directive to the state speaker.

By Telangana Today · 2026-09-16

What happened

The Telangana High Court has postponed its decision on the disqualification petition against former BRS MLA Danam Nagender to Friday, extending a legal battle that began after his 2024 party switch. The case stems from petitions filed by BJP and BRS legislators following Nagender’s defection to Congress and a Supreme Court directive to the state speaker. Telangana High Court pushes back its ruling on Danam Nagender’s disqualification petition to Friday, extending a multi‑year legal dispute over his party switch.

TL;DR

Telangana High Court pushes back its ruling on Danam Nagender’s disqualification petition to Friday, extending a multi‑year legal dispute over his party switch.

Key points

• Danam Nagender won the 2023 Assembly seat from Khairatabad on a BRS ticket but contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate
• The Supreme Court directed the Telangana Speaker on 31 July 2025 to decide on defection‑related disqualification petitions
• Speaker G Prasad Kumar rejected the disqualification petition against Nagender after hearings on ten MLAs
• BJP’s Aleti Maheswar Reddy and BRS’s Padi Kaushik Reddy filed the High Court petition challenging the speaker’s decision
• The High Court postponed its verdict from Wednesday to Friday, 2026‑09‑18

Hyderabad – The Telangana High Court has deferred its judgment on the disqualification petition against Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender to Friday, extending a controversy that has spanned several years. Initial expectations that the court would deliver its ruling on Wednesday were upended after arguments had already been heard, prompting the bench to schedule the decision for the end of the week.

The petition was filed jointly by BJP floor leader Aleti Maheswar Reddy and BRS Huzurabad MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, who challenged Nagender’s defection from the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the Congress party. Nagender won the 2023 Telangana Assembly election from Khairatabad on a BRS ticket, but in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections he contested the Secunderabad seat as a Congress candidate. He was defeated, and his switch attracted sharp criticism from both opposition and ruling party members.

Following the 2024 election, the BRS lodged petitions seeking Nagender’s disqualification under anti‑defection provisions. The matter escalated to the Supreme Court, which on 31 July 2025 directed Speaker G Prasad Kumar to decide on the disqualification of MLAs facing defection charges. Acting on that directive, the Speaker conducted hearings on ten MLAs, including Nagender, and ultimately rejected the disqualification petition against him.

Unsatisfied with the Speaker’s decision, Aleti Maheswar Reddy and Padi Kaushik Reddy approached the High Court, arguing that the speaker’s rejection was legally flawed. After hearing both sides, the High Court was expected to announce its verdict on Wednesday afternoon, but the bench announced a postponement, citing the need for further deliberation. The new hearing date is set for Friday, 2026‑09‑18.

The postponement keeps the political spotlight on Nagender’s status as an MLA and raises questions about the enforcement of anti‑defection laws in Telangana. It also underscores the layered judicial process that follows a Supreme Court directive, moving from the speaker’s administrative decision to high‑court scrutiny.