High court reserves order in petitions challenging SEC’s nominations decision

Vijayawada: The

high court

on Tuesday turned down appeals challenging the single judge order on the issue of re-notification for municipal

elections

.

Justice DVSS Somayajulu had earlier dismissed a batch of petitions stating that any orders at this stage would be interfering with the election process which cannot be done once it is set in motion. On the other hand, Justice Somayajulu reserved orders in a batch of petitions challenging the state election commission’s order allowing 14 persons to file nominations.

Arguing on behalf of the petitioners, who challenged the single judge order with an appeal petition, senior counsel P Veera Reddy said the rule position categorically stated that elections must be re-notified but should not be resumed if they are stopped midway. The

SEC

cannot resume the process from where it was stopped after 11 months, he argued, adding that as the petitioners are losing their legitimate right to contest the elections because of the time lapsed from the stoppage of election process to its resumption, the process should start afresh to give equal opportunity to everyone.

The SEC reiterated its stand that the election process has been resumed as per the Supreme Court’s directions. The standing counsel for SEC, N Ashwani Kumar, said the earlier notification is still alive as it was only suspended due to the pandemic situation. The division bench of the high court, headed by Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and C Praveen Kumar, considered the SEC’s arguments and turned down the appeal petitions.

Meanwhile, lunch motion petitions were moved challenging the orders of the SEC allowing 14 aspirants to file their nominations. Given the urgency of the petitions, the court heard the petitions at length and reserved its orders. Justice Somayajulu said the judgment will be pronounced on Wednesday given the urgency of the matter.