The Supreme Court on September 24, 2026, dismissed a petition filed by former Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender challenging his disqualification under the anti-defection law. The three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana upheld the Telangana High Court’s September 18 order that had disqualified him under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The apex court found no grounds for interference and ruled that the High Court had correctly interpreted the provisions of the anti-defection law.
Danam Nagender was elected as a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislator from the Khairatabad constituency in the 2023 Assembly elections. He subsequently switched allegiance to the Congress party and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Secunderabad constituency on a Congress ticket without resigning from his Assembly seat. The High Court had declared the disqualification effective from April 23, 2024, the date when he filed his nomination papers for the parliamentary polls, and declared the Khairatabad seat vacant.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Justice Bagchi made sharp observations about the case, comparing Nagender’s actions to treating his MLA seat as a “fixed deposit” while attempting the “share market” of a Lok Sabha contest. The court also questioned whether a “ghar wapasi” or return to the original party could reverse the voluntary giving up of membership under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the anti-defection law. The dismissal of the petition now clears the path for a by-election to be held in the Khairatabad constituency in Hyderabad.
Opposition parties BJP and BRS welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, describing it as a victory for constitutional principles and a strong message against political defection. The ruling represents a setback for the Congress government in Telangana, which had fielded Nagender in the parliamentary election after his switch from the BRS.
