VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh High Court has suspended an order of the State Election Commission (SEC) permitting 14 persons to file their nominations in the forthcoming urban local body polls.
A single-judge bench headed by justice D. V. S. S. Somayajulu said the statute and rules clearly mention that complaints from nomination till the declaration of results are not to be entertained by SEC. The court observed that any such issue could be decided only through an election petition.
The judge pointed out that candidates, who have been prevented from filing their nominations, must only approach tribunals. He opined that the SEC has no authority to issue such an impugned order.
The court maintained that even if efforts made by SEC are laudable with the avowed objective of conducting free and fair polls, the fact still remains that law is in favour of petitioners.
It may be mentioned that SEC had earlier issued an order permitting 14 persons to file their nominations for the scheduled local body polls on March 10. These persons had complained that they were either prevented from filing their nominations or forced to withdraw their nominations when the local body election process was on in March, 2020. However, these elections were postponed due to Coronavirus pandemic.
Only four of 14 persons permitted, however, filed their nominations.
