On November 22, the Telangana High Court overturned a September decision made by a single judge. The earlier order had instructed the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly to present the disqualification requests against MLAs who switched from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the Assembly Speaker. The Speaker was asked to set a hearing schedule within four weeks.

The High Court stated that the Speaker of the Assembly has the authority to make decisions under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with disqualification due to defection. This power is subject to judicial review. The Court noted that while the Speaker must decide on disqualification cases within a reasonable time, what qualifies as "reasonable" depends on the specifics of each case. In this situation, the High Court instructed the Speaker to make a decision on the disqualification petitions within a reasonable time, considering the idea of what is fair and timely.

A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao issued a 78-page ruling citing several Supreme Court rulings on the matter, notably the constitution bench's ruling in Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu which said, "...it is evident that the Speaker is the Authority to decide the disqualification petitions, who exercises the powers under the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The Speaker is a high constitutional functionary. Our society is governed by the rule of law and the Constitution is the supreme. The Speaker exercises power under the Tenth Schedule and the same is subject to judicial review on the grounds set out in Kihoto Hollohan (supra) and as referred to by the Supreme Court in Rajendra Singh Rana (supra) and Subhash Desai (supra). The Speaker of the Assembly is required to decide the disqualification petitions within a reasonable time. What would be the reasonable time depends on the facts and circumstances of each case".

On September 9, a single-judge order was passed on petitions filed by BRS MLAs Kuna Pandu Vivekananda and Padi Kaushik Reddy, along with BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy. These MLAs challenged the speaker's delay in deciding on disqualification petitions against MLAs Venkata Rao Tellam, Kadiyam Srihari, and Danam Nagender. The petitioners argued that the disqualification petitions, filed in April, had not yet been considered by the speaker. On September 9, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy instructed the secretary of the assembly to present disqualification requests to the speaker, who was required to make a decision within a set time frame. The High Court was to be informed of the schedule for the speaker's decision.

The judge also mentioned that if no action was taken within four weeks, the court would reopen the matter on its own and issue necessary orders. The Telangana Legislative Assembly filed three appeals against this order before the Division Bench. Initially, the Division Bench refused to stay the single judge’s order. In its final ruling, the Division Bench reviewed several Supreme Court rulings on defection, including the limited role of the judiciary in such matters, and ultimately decided to overturn the single-judge deadline. The request was subsequently limited to asking the speaker to make a decision in a reasonable duration of time.

"It is evident that the Speaker is the Authority to decide the disqualification petitions, who exercises the powers under the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The Speaker is a high constitutional functionary. Our society is governed by the rule of law and the Constitution is the supreme. The Speaker exercises power under the Tenth Schedule and the same is subject to judicial review on the grounds set out in Kihoto Hollohan (supra) and as referred to by the Supreme Court in Rajendra Singh Rana (supra) and Subhash Desai (supra). The Speaker of the Assembly is required to decide the disqualification petitions within a reasonable time. What would be a reasonable time depends in the facts and circumstances of each case," the Division Bench said.

Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy and Advocate K. Pradeep Reddy represented the Telangana Legislative Assembly. Senior Counsel Ravindra Shrivastava and Special Government Pleader IV Siddhivardhana represented the Telangana State government. Senior Advocates J. Prabhakar and G. Mohan Rao, along with Advocates RV Pavan Maitreya and S. Santosh Kumar, represented the BRS MLAs who had filed disqualification petitions. Senior Counsel Ravishankar Jandhyala, P. Sri Raghu Ram, and B. Mayur Reddy, along with Advocates Thoom Srinivas, P. Sri Ram, and L. Preetham Reddy, represented the former BRS MLAs who had joined the Congress.