HYDERABAD: In major relief to Vanama Venkateswara Rao, the Supreme Court on Monday granted interim stay on the Telangana High Court order disqualifying him as Kothagudem MLA and adjourned the matter for four weeks.
Hearing an election petition filed by BRS leader Jalagam Venkat Rao, the High Court had on July 25 declared Vanama’s election invalid. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Venkateswara Rao for filing a false affidavit and directed him to pay costs to the petitioner, Jalagam.
In his petition, Jalagam sought the court to declare the election of Venkateswara Rao, who was declared elected on a Congress ticket, null and void. The crux of the matter lay in Venkateswara Rao switching from the Congress to the TRS (now BRS) after winning the elections. This switch, combined with allegations of illegal activities during the elections, led to the court’s decision to invalidate his election.
Much more at stake
In addition to challenging Vanama’s election, Jalagam had sought a direction from the ECI to permit the release of EVMs and VVPATs used in the Kothagudem Assembly constituency in the 2018 elections.