Supreme Court Upholds Danam Nagender’s Disqualification

The Supreme Court has upheld the disqualification of Danam Nagender, who was elected as the Khairatabad MLA on a BRS ticket in 2023 and later contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket. A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana refused to interfere with the Telangana High Court’s September 18 order and dismissed Nagender’s plea challenging his disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Nagender, argued that his return to the original party should be treated as a “ghar wapsi” and that he should therefore be protected from disqualification. The Bench disagreed, distinguishing between Paragraph 2(1)(a), which concerns voluntarily giving up party membership, and Paragraph 2(1)(b), which deals with voting or abstaining contrary to party directions. The Supreme Court’s decision leaves the High Court’s disqualification order in force.