High court directs legislative council chairman to respond on MLC resignation

VIJAYAWADA: In a petition seeking directions to act on the resignation submitted by a member, the High Court asked the counsel for the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council to obtain written instructions from the chairman.

YSRCP MLC Jaya Mangala Venkata Ramana moved the High Court challenging the inaction of the council chairman in accepting his resignation to the upper house of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.Venkata Ramana, who switched sides from TDP to YSRCP, was elected as MLC in the MLA quota on March 30, 2023. However, he submitted his resignation prematurely, before the completion of his term. He addressed a letter to the council chairman on November 23, 2024, informing him that he was resigning as MLC for personal reasons as he was unable to continue to hold the post.Arguing on behalf of Venkata Ramana, N Ashwani Kumar told the High Court that Rule 186 of the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the AP Legislative Assembly mandates that the Speaker or the chairman, upon receiving a letter of resignation from any member, ought to make an enquiry either by himself or through any agency of his choice and pass necessary orders upon the same.However, Ashwani Kumar said that the chairman of the Legislative Council did not act upon the resignation submitted by Venkata Ramana, without even conducting any enquiry for nearly 10 months after the submission of the resignation.

The chairman ought to have acted upon the resignation letter either by accepting or rejecting it, but he did nothing, keeping the resignation letter in abeyance, which is illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional, he said.Ashwani Kumar further mentioned the observations of the Supreme Court in Shrimanth Balasaheb Patil vs Hon’ble Speaker, Karnataka Assembly, wherein it was held that the scope of the Speaker with respect to the acceptance or rejection of a resignation tendered by a member of the legislature is limited to examining whether such a resignation was tendered voluntarily or genuinely. Once it is demonstrated that a member is willing to resign out of his free will, the Speaker has no option but to accept the resignation. It is constitutionally impermissible for the Speaker to consider any extraneous factors while dealing with the resignation, said Ashwani Kumar.Considering the submissions by the petitioner, Justice Gannamaneni Ramakrishna Prasad directed the standing council for the AP Assembly, Ginjupalli Subba Rao, to obtain written instructions from the chairman of the Legislative Council and posted the matter for further hearing on August 30.