New Delhi, Nov. 18 -- The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Telangana legislative assembly speaker for delaying decisions on disqualification petitions against 10 Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs who had defected to the ruling Congress last year, warning that failure to comply with the court-mandated timeline would amount to "gross contempt".

"Finish it or face contempt," a bench of Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai, and justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria told the speaker's counsel, as it berated the prolonged inaction despite a clear three-month deadline fixed by the court in July.

The bench was hearing three contempt petitions filed by BRS legislators, including party working president KT Rama Rao and MLA Pa...