BRS leaders challenge rejection of their nomination to Legislative Council by Governor

Hyderabad, Jan 3:  Two leaders of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) have approached Telangana High Court challenging Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan rejecting their nominations to the state Legislative Council.

The writ petition by Dasoju Sravan Kumar and Kurra Satyanarayana is slated to come up for hearing on January 5.

The court will first hear arguments on maintainability of the writ.

The previous BRS government had recommended their nominations to the Legislative Council under the Governor's quota.

The recommendation passed by the then state Cabinet in July last year was sent to the Governor.

However, she rejected the nominations on September 19 on the ground that the two were "politically aligned persons". The High Court Registry had raised objections regarding the maintainability of the writ, owing to Article 361, which states that no criminal proceedings can be initiated against the Governor.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, however, directed the Registry to number the matter and it will take up the preliminary issue of maintainability.

According to the petitioners, the Constitution provides that the state government is empowered to nominate persons having special knowledge or practical experience in Literature, Science, Art, Cooperative Movement, and Social Services to fill the vacancies in the Legislative Council under the "Governor Quota".

The Governor while rejecting the recommendation cited lack of 'special achievements' accompanied by 'short tenure' in the respective fields and the absence of methodology adopted for consideration.

The Governor advised the Council to consider 'non-politically affiliated people' as the same "will take away the opportunities to genuine people".

The petitioners vehemently contend that the decision taken by the Governor to reject the recommendations of the Council of Ministers was due to 'lack of personal satisfaction' and not due to any ambiguity in the recommendation itself, which is arbitrary therefore illegal. The petitioners called 'the order passed by the Governor as mala fide, arbitrary, unconstitutional and in excess of her jurisdiction.

BRS had reacted strongly to the Governor's action in September.

BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao had stated that Tamilisai Soundararajan is unfit to hold the Governor's post.

He had said that the Governor who called the two credible leaders from backward sections of the society as unfit herself was unfit.

The BRS leader pointed out that Dasoju Sravan, who hails from a Backward Classes community, participated in the Telangana movement while Satyanarayana, belonging to a Scheduled Tribes community, has been active in trade union movement at the national level.