IN A RECENT SIGNIFICANT development towards establishing constitutional accountability, the Supreme Court indicated that the Speakers that the Speakers adjudicate disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule within a reasonable and fixed timeframe. The remark, primarily addressed to the long-pending petitions in the Telangana Legislative Assembly, comes amidst an ongoing debate over the misuse of procedural discretion by Speakers to delay decisions on defections under the Tenth Schedule. This judicial intervention also gains significance considering the recent political developments in Telangana where the disqualification of rebel Bharat Rashtra Samithi (‘BRS’) MLAs, who joined the Congress, remains unresolved.