HYDERABAD: Directing the State Election Commission (SEC) not to issue notification for the municipal elections till Tuesday evening, a division bench of Telangana High Court on Monday directed the commission to submit the election manual, Telangana Municipalities Act, rules and regulations and related material before it on Tuesday. The SEC was set to issue the poll notification on Tuesday.
“In a democratic setup, a contesting candidate should be given sufficient time to take a decision to run for an election. Furnish the entire chronology of dates, election manual, rules and regulations before us tomorrow. We will not allow you to sleep this night,” the bench told the SEC counsel. The bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy passed the order in the PIL filed by Congress leader and Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy, challenging the SEC notification issued on December 23, 2019 for conduct of elections to municipalities and municipal corporations in the State.
The petitioner MP sought court directions to the authorities concerned to reschedule the election schedule saying the notification is contrary to provisions of Telangana Municipalities Act. When the matter came up for hearing, senior advocate D Prakash Reddy, appearing for Uttam Kumar Reddy, told the court that notifying the election schedule itself is contrary to provisions of the Telangana Municipalities Act, and if the SEC is allowed to conduct elections then the candidates in respect of reserved wards would be prevented from filing nominations. The schedule was issued in violation of Rule 195 (1) of the Act, he argued.
Questioning the senior counsel CV Mohan Reddy who was appearing for SEC, Chief Justice Chauhan said: “Suppose I am a person belonging to SC community from a particular ward and do not know whether such a ward will be reserved for SC or not, and if the SEC does not give me sufficient time to get a caste certificate, how can I obtain a caste certificate. If I make all preparatory work to contest from a SC ward, and if tomorrow the SEC declares that the ward has been allocated to some other caste, then all my efforts will be futile. Hence, finalisation of reservations is a must.”In reply, SEC counsel Mohan Reddy said that aspirants would face no difficiluty to contest the municipal elections. As per Rule 7(2)(c) of Telangana Municipalities Act, the aspiring candidate has to give a self-declaration before the authority concerned at the time of filing his nomination.
Procedure followed as per election manual: SECF
No person will be deprived. As for finalisation of reservations, it is the task to be performed by the State government. Election process is already set in motion. As per schedule, notification will be issued on Tuesday and the SEC is working in coordination with the government. Entire procedure has been followed as per the election manual, he added. Reacting to submissions of the SEC counsel, the bench questioned as to how the SEC could issue election schedule on Dec 23 last year when it has to complete the exercise on Jan 4, this year.
Due to paucity of time to adjudicate the PIL, the bench posted the matter to Tuesday. While adjourning the hearing, the bench directed the SEC counsel to furnish the election manual, rules and regulations and other related material before it.
Will not allow you to sleep
The bench told the SEC counsel : “Furnish the entire chronology of dates, election manual, rules and regulations before us tomorrow. We will not allow you to sleep this night.”