Andhra Pradesh defections PIL to be heard next week

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad high court on Tuesday agreed to take up next week the hearing in a plea seeking a direction to Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker to decide expeditiously whether the 22 YSRCP MLAs who defected to Telugu Desam Party are liable for disqualification.
Anna Venkata Rambabu, an ex-MLA, filed this plea questioning the inordinate delay being made by the AP speaker in this regard, despite pleas seeking the disqualification of defectors pending before him.
A bench of Chief Justice TB Radhakrishnan and Justice SV Bhatt heard senior counsel CV Mohan Reddy, and assured him they will take up the matter next week.
Hearing a PIL on the same matter, filed by one Sathish Kumar, the bench sought to know as to why the petitioner has made the chief minister of AP as the respondent to the case, when it is the speaker who holds the power to disqualify the defectors.
Mohan Reddy replied that the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh was made a respondent because he encouraged defections, and also made the defectors ministers in his cabinet despite knowing that this is unlawful.