VIJAYAWADA : The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of India to submit full details of the possibility of publishing the affidavit (Form 26) of contestants, which contains information about their assets and cases against them, in Telugu.
Ayurveda doctor and Telugu Bhashodhyama Samakhya honorary president Samala Ramesh Babu filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court seeking directions to the Election Commission for publishing affidavits of the contesting candidates in Telugu.
Hearing the petition, a division bench of Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice R Raghunandan Rao, directed Sivadharsan, counsel of ECI, to submit details regarding the same.
They observed that voters are wise enough and they know everything about the candidates. The case hearing was adjourned to May first week.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel Karumanchi Indraneel Babu said voters have every right to know about the contesting candidates and even the Supreme Court has given clear instructions in this regard. At present, Form 26 is available in English only. As 83% of the population in the State only knows Telugu, Form 26 should be made available in Telugu also, he contended.