HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court on Friday dismissed a petition that sought a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Telangana to take action against Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for his alleged defamatory speech against leaders and workers of the Congress.
Senior counsel for the Election Commission of India (ECI) Avinash Desai argued before the bench, consisting of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N V Shravan Kumar, that it was premature for the petitioner to approach the court.
According to him, the petitioner lodged a complaint with the ECI and CEO of Telangana on November 3 without allowing sufficient time for the officials to examine the complaint. The bench agreed with the contention of the counsel for the EC.
The alleged defamatory speech by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was purported to have occurred during a public meeting at BRS Praja Ashirvada Sabha in the Banswada constituency on October 30. The petition was filed by Balmoori Venkat Narsing Rao, president of the Telangana unit of the NSUI.
Plea seeking rejection of minister’s nomination dismissed
The Telangana HC on Friday dismissed a writ petition seeking a direction to the ECI for rejection of the nomination papers filed by minister V Srinivasa Goud.
The petitioner alleged that the returning officer (RO) in Mahbubnagar district had not responded to the objections raised by him regarding the alleged suppression of information by the minister about FIR No. 241/2023 registered at II Town PS Mahbubnagar against him for tampering with the election affidavit during the 2018 elections.
Avinash Desai, standing counsel for the ECI, informed the court that the RO had addressed the objections raised by the petitioner in an order dated November 13 and presented a copy of the same to the court.