Telangana govt files plea in HC against stay on Karimnagar municipal polls

The Telangana government on Wednesday has sought an urgent hearing of a writ appeal against an order that stalled the upcoming municipal body elections in Karimnagar. The order staying the polls in Karimnagar was issued by a bench comprising of a single judge on late Tuesday evening. The High Court had on Monday stayed a notification by the state election commission (SEC) that had announced the election schedule for 120 municipalities and 10 municipal corporations in the state.

Responding to the appeal made by the state government against the stay on the polls, the Bench of Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Raghuvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy, said it will hear the case on Friday, the time by which the order of the single judge will be made available to the bench.

On Tuesday, while dealing with petitions filed by Mohammad Amer and others, the single judge bench had stayed elections to the Karimnagar civic body, after it noticed discrepancies in identifying the SC and ST population in three wards in the district. The judge informed the authorities concerned to take remedial actions to address the alleged irregularities in the election process.

The government, represented by the Karimnagar municipal corporation commissioner G Venu Gopal Reddy, in a writ petition has asked the High Court to dismiss the stay issued by the single judge. It said the order was arbitrary and added that the division bench had dismissed a similar petition filed by the Congress.

The petitioners, which includes Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, had claimed that the election notification was issued before the reservation of wards was announced, which is a violation of the Telangana Municipalities Act.

Responding to the same, the State Election commission’s (SEC) counsel claimed that finalisation of reservations was to be undertaken by the state government and did not fall under the duties of the poll body. The petition was then dismissed by the division bench on Tuesday.