Election Commission— DC File

HYDERABAD: The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday informed the Telangana High Court that it would not notify the by-election to the Khairatabad Assembly constituency until the High Court adjudicates the pending election petition filed by former corporator P. Vijaya Reddy, challenging the election of former MLA Danam Nagender in the 2023 elections.

The submission was made by EC’s standing counsel Avinash Desai before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Vakiti Ramakrishna Reddy during the hearing on a writ petition filed by Vijaya Reddy, opposing the notification of bypolls during the pendency of the election petition.

Senior counsel Vedula Venkataramana, appearing for Vijaya Reddy, submitted the Khairatabad Assembly constituency could not be treated as a casual vacancy until the election petition was finally decided in view of the law laid down by the Supreme Court and Section 84, 98(c) and Section 101(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

He contended that the EC had no authority to conduct a by-election while the election petition remained pending.

Concurring with Vijaya Reddy’s counsel, EC standing counsel Avinash Desai informed the court that the vacancy would be notified only after the disposal of the election petition.

The election petition was filed by Vijaya Reddy in 2024 alleging that Nagender had suppressed material information relating to the assets of his wife and dependents in his Form-26 affidavit submitted during the 2023 Assembly elections.

In view of this, she sought invalidation of Nagender’s election from Khairatabad, and declaration of her as being duly elected from the constituency. The petition is pending before the High Court and it was not even listed before the Bench.

After the submissions, the division bench posted the petition to October 6 and asked the EC to file an affidavit to place its assurance on record.


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