VIJAYAWADA: The AP High Court has stayed the election of president, vice-president and co-opted member of Duggirala Mandal Praja Parishad in Guntur district by a week, in an interim order issued on Thursday.
A single-judge bench, headed by Justice Battu Devanand, heard the petition filed by Chiluvuru-1 TD MPTC Sheik Jabeen with a plea to stop conduct of election until she was issued ‘BC-E’ caste certificate.
The court directed Guntur collector to clear the petition filed by the MPTC against Duggirala tahsildar for refusing to issue ‘BC-E’ caste certificate to her.
The court observed that it was rare for a Muslim woman to get an opportunity to become a political leader and denial of such a chance when she came forward to contest as a president on technical grounds was unfair and opined that in that context, there would be no harm to democracy if the election was deferred by a week.
The SEC notified the conduct of election at Duggirala mandal parishad for the position of president and others on Friday.
