Amaravati: High Court refuses to stay panchayat polls

Nelapadu (Amaravati): Justice D V S S Somayajulu of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh refused to grant stay order on the petition filed by the state government seeking stay on the local body elections. It may be recalled that the state government asked for stay on the decision taken by State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar to conduct panchayat elections in February.

The High Court made it clear to the government that the SEC was an autonomous Constitutional institution and it was vested with powers to take independent decisions regarding the elections. It was not proper on the part of the government to seek stay on that decision. However, the State Election Commission was asked to file the counter affidavit to justify its decision. The next hearing was posted to December 14.

Earlier, Aswani Kumar representing the SEC told the court that the decision on conducting the local polls in February only after analysing the emerging coronavirus situation in the state.

He further told the court that it was decided to constantly study the impact of Covid so that all the necessary preventive measures could be taken at the time of elections. The High Court asked the SEC to file the counter by December 14.