VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Sunday refused to direct the State Election Commission (SEC) to extend the deadline for filing nominations for municipal local body polls, dismissing a supplementary petition filed by YSRCP state general secretary L Appi Reddy.
The court noted the SEC’s argument that extending the deadline after nominations closed at 3 pm could disrupt election schedule. It observed that ordering an extension after expiry would amount to judicial interference in process.
A division bench of Justice N Jayasurya and Justice Ch Purushotham Kumar passed the orders, adjourning the hearing on the main appeals to October 26 and directing the State government and SEC to file counter-affidavits. Appi Reddy had challenged the single judge’s October 15 order rejecting a request to establish special nomination centres at collectorates.
Senior advocate S Sriram, for the petitioner, argued that rules introduced in 2026 empowered the SEC to modify the schedule and urged a one-day extension. Advocate N Ashwani Kumar, for SEC, opposed the plea, citing Supreme Court caution against judicial interference. He pointed out that a single judge already rejected a plea by Bharatiya Chaitanya Yuvajana Party to extend the nomination period from three to six days, and SEC had rejected similar requests from other parties.
After hearing both sides, the bench declined to order an extension, clarifying that if the SEC rejected a representation, the decision could be challenged separately before the appropriate forum. Polling for the urban local body elections is scheduled for October 28, with counting on October 30.