HYDERABAD: In a major relief to Minister V Srinivas Goud, Justice M Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday dismissed an Election Petition (EP) filed by Chaluvagali Raghavendra Raju, a resident of BK Reddy Colony in Mahbubnagar district.
Raju had challenged the validity of the election of Srinivas Goud from the Mahbubnagar Assembly constituency in 2018. In his petition, Raju had alleged that Srinivas Goud had concealed crucial information in Form-26 when submitting it to the Returning Officer in Mahbubnagar in violation of the Representation of People’s Act and election rules and urged the court to declare the minister’s election as invalid, null and void.
According to the petitioner, Srinivas Goud failed to disclose information regarding immovable property acquired by his wife and a mortgage loan of Rs 12 lakh obtained from Grameena Vikas Bank in Mahbubnagar.
The petitioner alleged that Srinivas Goud had engaged in wrongdoing in collusion with the Returning Officer by replacing the defective affidavit submitted in Form No. 26 along with his nomination papers.
Following the arguments by counsels representing the petitioner and respondent, the court reserved its orders.