The Telangana High Court on Thursday ordered the Registry to assign a number to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging government orders that granted Cabinet Minister status to a group of MLAs and politicians. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin also directed the Registry to link this new PIL filed by BRS leader Erolla Srinivas with a similar PIL filed in 2017 by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who was then an MLA from the Telugu Desam Party. The Registry initially raised objections to the PIL by Erolla Srinivas, who requested the court to suspend the Cabinet Minister status granted by the Congress government to 14 individuals. These include K. Keshava Rao, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, P. Sudarshan Reddy, and others. Senior counsel Gandra Mohan Rao, representing the petitioner, argued that granting Cabinet Minister status to a large number of people would cause massive expenses without serving the public interest. He pointed out, “Interestingly, the CM Revanth Reddy while being an opposition party MLA in 2017 filed a PIL petition questioning the decision of the then BRS government providing cabinet minister status to some individuals.” That 2017 case was never resolved as the government’s term ended. The lawyer also said it is common for political leaders to challenge government decisions when out of power and follow the same decisions after coming to power. He further contended that the current Congress government’s decision violates Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution. According to him, granting cabinet rank to 14 additional MLAs and politicians on top of the existing 16 Cabinet Ministers breaches this constitutional provision. Both PILs are expected to be heard soon by the Telangana High Court.