AP High Court cancels MPTC and ZPTC elections, orders to reconduct as per guidelines

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday has delivered a sensational verdict on the petition filed against AP ZPTC and MPTC elections held in April. The court has cancelled the elections stating that the process was in contrary to the supreme court guidelines of issuing notification four weeks before and ordered to hold the elections again as per the guidelines.

TDP senior leader Varla Ramaiah has filed a case that the state election commission had given notification on April 1 this year for the ZPTC and MPTC elections, contrary to the Supreme Court's order to impose the code four weeks before the polling date. The single judge of the high court who heard the case issued an interim order on April 6 suspending the election process. The division bench which heard the appeal filed by SEC challenging them on April 7, allowed the polls to be held on April 8 as per the schedule and halted the counting of votes. However, the matter was handed over to a single judge for an in-depth inquiry into the case.

Meanwhile, Jana Sena secretary Chillapalli Srinivasa Rao and BJP leader Pathuri Nagbhushanam have filed separate lawsuits seeking to start the ZPTC and MPTC election process from scratch in the wake of past nominations obstruction, forced withdrawals and violent incidents. It is learned that Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy held a final hearing on the three cases filed by TDP, Jana Sena and BJP leaders on April 4 and reserved judgment.