Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday, March 3, heard the case related to the election process for the chairperson and vice-chairperson of Ibrahimpatnam municipality.
It directed the State Election Commission (SEC) and the returning officer to complete the process within three weeks.
Justice NV Shravan Kumar stated that the entire process must be concluded without exceeding a maximum period of four weeks.
Petition filed over chairperson post
The petition was moved by Tekula Sudarshan Reddy who requested the court to declare him elected as chairperson.
He stated that during the municipal council meeting held on February 17, ward councillors had elected him through a show of hands.
However, the election process came to a halt after the son of councillor Yadagiri filed a habeas corpus petition before the high court. He alleged that his father had been kidnapped.
Arguments presented before Telangana HC
Counsel appearing for Reddy argued that although the court had ordered a stay on the election process, the voting had already been completed by the time the order was issued.
It was further submitted that after Yadagiri appeared before the court the next day, permission was granted to continue the election process.
The petitioner urged the court to direct authorities to complete the formalities and declare Reddy as chairperson.
Senior counsel Vidyasagar who is representing the commission informed the court that the government needed to make necessary arrangements for conducting the election and that a communication had already been sent in this regard.
After taking note of the submissions made by both sides, the judge directed the authorities to conclude the election process within a maximum period of four weeks and disposed of the petition.
