Chennamaneni Ramesh (left) with BRS president KCR (File photo)
Hyderabad: A year after Telangana HC declared that former BRS MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh was not an Indian citizen and imposed a Rs 30 lakh fine on him for concealing his German citizenship while contesting assembly elections, he continues to receive a pension of Rs 60,000 as a former MLA.Congress MLA Adi Srinivas has urged the assembly secretary not to pay the pension to Ramesh, arguing that he is not entitled to any govt benefits, and has demanded the recovery of benefits, emoluments, and salary already given to the German citizen.”As there has been no action on my previous request, I am again urging the assembly secretary and the Speaker to stop his pension immediately. I will approach the HC on this issue again, if required,” said Srinivas, who had challenged Ramesh’s citizenship.Sources said the assembly secretary had earlier informed Srinivas that the high court order did not mention recovering salary and other emoluments from Ramesh, and that there was no provision under existing rules to make such recoveries.Under the Telangana assembly rules, former MLAs are entitled to a pension, medical reimbursement, and other benefits. As Ramesh had served four terms as MLA from Vemulawada, he drew over Rs 50,000 as monthly pension from Dec 2023. Following court order, Ramesh paid Rs 30 lakh in damages.Former Telangana advocate general K Rama Krishna Reddy said, “The legislative secretary cannot decide on pension issues as he does not have adjudicating powers. The assembly Speaker can decide whether Ramesh is entitled to the pension, as this is a decision to be taken post-disposal of the court case. Srinivas can also approach the competent court on the issue.”He added that Srinivas had approached Supreme Court by filing a special leave petition to declare him elected for the terms Ramesh served as MLA. However, in Aug this year, Supreme Court, declining to interfere, said it could not ‘resurrect’ the matter as the term of the election had already ended.”Even SC did not address the emoluments and pension when the present MLA approached top court,” a source close to Ramesh told TOI.
