HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Thursday stayed election to Bhainsa municipality in Nirmal district until due process was followed in respect of delimitation exercise of the municipality.
Justice P Naveen Rao was passing this interim order in a petition filed by Kapil Shinde, resident of Bhainsa, with a plea to declare the draft publication of wards dated July 2, 2019 and the procedure adopted by the municipal commissioner concerned for division and delimitation of Bhainsa municipality as illegal and ultra vires to Telangana Municipalities Act and the Rules thereunder.
The petitioner’s counsel told the court that the commissioner of Bhainsa municipality has failed to take into consideration the objections raised before finalisation of draft publication.
Blatant disregard to the rules and procedure established for the preparation of draft publication and division of the municipality only indicates that the authorities concerned have indulged in ‘gerrymandering’ with an intention to favour one particular political party, he argued and urged the court to grant a stay on issuance of election notification to the said municipality.
The judge issued notices to the respondents to respond on the issue.