HYDERABAD: Questioning the Telangana government why it is in a hurry to conduct municipal elections within 30 days when it was allowed 119 days for it to complete all formalities, a division bench of the High Court on Thursday issued notices to it and the State Election Commission to respond to the PIL filed alleging that the authorities were conducting the elections against the rules.
“Our country is a role model for the entire world, for holding elections in a free and fair manner. The government should keep this in mind so that it will lessen the number of litigations in the courts. Elections should be held in such a manner that people have faith on the government, else you are damaging and disturbing the people’s faith. No government can afford such laxity. If the electoral process is hijacked then the entire democratic process is hijacked”, the bench observed while expressing dissatisfaction over the way the State government was going ahead with the alleged shabby pre-poll exercise.
The bench was dealing with the PIL filed by K Anjukumar Reddy, an advocate from Nirmal district, seeking a stay on election notification for municipalities in the State.
‘Curable defects’
Replying to a query from the bench, Additional Advocate General J Ramachandra Rao submitted that the time limit ordered by a single judge was only an outer time limit to hold elections, whereas the government has already completed the entire pre-poll process well in advance and the works relating to delimitation of wards was to be taken up. Out of the 132 municipalities, voters in 10 municipalities have raised objections and the concerned officials were on the job of redressing them. Whatever the lacunae pointed out by the petitioner were ‘curable defects’, he added.
Taking an exception to the contentions of the AAG, the bench said that the delimitation of wards was one of the major step in the election process and it cannot be done in a hasty manner.“How can the government expect a common man to submit his objections to the concerned officials within four days and how the objections would be disposed of in a single day?” the bench questioned.
The bench directed the AAG to place before it by Monday the entire information regarding the date fixed to publish the draft publication of wards, number of objections received, redressed and pending in various municipalities.
After perusing the recent order copy of a single judge granting stay on holding elections to Bhainsa municipality in Nirmal district, the bench found that the government has grossly violated Rule 5 of the Municipalities Act and that the objections raised by the voters were disposed of by the officials in a mechanical manner.
After recording the undertaking given by the SEC counsel, the bench issued notices to the State government and the SEC to respond to the present case and posted the matter to July 22 for further hearing.