Hyderabad: Supreme Court on Wednesday annulled the nominations of M Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan as members of the legislative council (MLCs) under the governor’s quota, and said any fresh nominations must come through a recommendation of the state cabinet and approval by the governor. The court also made it clear that even such future nominations will be subject to the final outcome of the pending petitions.A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta acknowledged that its own interim order (dated Aug 14, 2024) had, in effect, allowed the swearing-in of the Congress govt’s nominees while the legal dispute was still before the court.Indicating its intent to correct that position, the bench modified the interim order and directed that the Telangana high court’s March 2024 judgment — which had set aside both the governor’s rejection of the BRS nominees and the subsequent Congress nominations — will remain in force until further orders of the Supreme Court. “Our intention is only to say that any future nominations made during the course of hearing this plea would be subject to the final outcome in this batch of pleas,” Justice Vikram Nath said.The bench brushed aside objections raised by counsel for Kodandaram and Amer Ali while hearing separate petitions filed by BRS nominees, Dasoju Sravan and Kurra Satyanarayana. It also took up a plea by the governor of Telangana, who has questioned portions of the high court’s judgment that discussed the governor’s role under Article 171(5) of the Constitution. The bench said it would decide that constitutional question in its final verdict.The dispute traces back to Sept 2023, when the then governor, Tamilisai Soundararajan, rejected the nominations of Sravan and Satyanarayana on the ground that they were party functionaries and therefore not suitable for the ‘eminent persons’ category reserved for nominations under the governor’s quota. The BRS nominees challenged the rejection, arguing that a governor has no independent power to turn down the cabinet’s recommendation and must act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers.After the Congress led by Revanth Reddy assumed office in Dec 2023, the cabinet recommended Kodandaram and Amer Ali for the two seats. The governor approved these names, contrary to her own press note that she will not act in the matter till the high court resolved the BRS’s pleas.The high court later quashed both the governor’s rejection of the BRS names and the subsequent approval of the Congress nominees. The BRS govt nominees then approached the Supreme Court, contending that the high court should have restored their nominations. The governor also appealed, saying parts of the high court order could be read as ‘intruding’ into the governor’s constitutional domain.During Wednesday’s hearing, attorney general R Venkataramani appeared for the governor and defended the actions taken. He said the governor first faced the allegation that she had not acted on cabinet advice when she rejected the BRS names. “When a second set of names came from the new cabinet, she acted strictly in accordance with that advice and approved them,” he said.The bench asked why there appeared to be a ‘pick and choose’ approach, rejecting one set and approving another. The attorney general responded that the governor had ‘rectified the initial mistake’ and aligned with the cabinet’s recommendation the second time.“The high court said I have to act in tune with the advice of the cabinet and called my rejection order bad in law. Then why did it nullify the subsequent approval of the Congress nominees which was in accordance with cabinet advice? I have no idea why the high court did that,” he said, adding that he was not supporting either set of recommendations but stating the legal position as he understood it.With the Supreme Court’s modification of its interim order, the high court’s March 2024 ruling will operate for now. Any fresh nominations proposed during the pendency of these petitions will be provisional and subject to the Supreme Court’s final decision.
