Hyderabad, Sep 9 (IANS): The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) welcomed the Telangana High Court order on Monday directing the Assembly Speaker to act on the petitions seeking disqualification of defected MLAs.

BRS leader and former minister T. Harish Rao termed the High Court verdict a stinging slap on the ruling Congress.

"This ruling is a significant setback for Congress’ undemocratic practices. It clearly shows that those who switched parties cannot escape disqualification. The court’s decision is a victory for democracy and a strong stand in upholding the values of our Constitution," he said.

Stating that by-elections are inevitable, Harish Rao exuded confidence that the BRS will emerge victorious.

"We trust that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly will act promptly, following the court’s directive, to safeguard democracy by deciding within the next four weeks," the BRS leader added.

A bench of Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy directed the office of the Speaker to announce, within four weeks, the schedule of hearing the petitions seeking disqualification of three BRS MLAs who defected to the Congress.

The court, which had last month, reserved the orders on the petitions filed by BRS leaders, pronounced its decision on Monday.

The writ petitions had questioned the inaction of the Speaker in the matter pertaining to the consideration of disqualification petitions filed against Bhadrachalam MLA Venkata Rao Tellam, Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiyam Srihari and Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender.

The petitioners had argued that the Speaker was keeping the decision on the petitions to disqualify the MLAs pending for three months. The court had reserved its orders after a prolonged hearing on constitutional aspects of the court's powers to give directions to the Speaker of the Assembly.

The counsels of the MLAs had argued that a writ of mandamus cannot be filed against the Speaker. They also said that the petitioners have approached the Court within 15 days of filing their petition before the Speaker, which is a short period, and therefore the matter is not maintainable.