Mon Dec 09 08:19:37 UTC 2024: ## Telangana High Court Fines Former MLA ₹30 Lakh for Concealing German Citizenship
**Hyderabad, December 9, 2024** – The Telangana High Court has fined Chennamaneni Ramesh, a former MLA from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party, ₹30 lakh for concealing his German citizenship. Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy dismissed Ramesh’s petition challenging a 2019 central government order declaring him not an Indian citizen.
The court ruled that ₹25 lakh of the fine should be paid to Adi Srinivas, the current Congress MLA for Vemulawada, who had repeatedly challenged Ramesh’s eligibility to hold office. The remaining ₹5 lakh will go to the Telangana State Legal Services Authority.
The judge cited Ramesh’s multiple trips to Germany and his continued service as MLA despite holding German citizenship as evidence of his deception. The court noted that Ramesh failed to provide documentation disproving his German citizenship.
Ramesh, son of former CPI leader Ch. Rajeshwara Rao, first won the Vemulawada seat in 2009 as a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate. He subsequently won three more elections as a BRS candidate. Srinivas, who unsuccessfully contested against Ramesh in 2009, 2014, and 2018, finally won the seat in 2023. He had consistently alleged that Ramesh concealed his German citizenship. The detailed judgment is pending upload on the High Court website.
First Piper 