Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Tuesday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) and the returning officer to complete the election process for the chairperson and vice-chairperson of Ibrahimpatnam municipality within three weeks, effectively paving the way for closure of the dispute. Justice NV Shravan Kumar, while disposing of a petition seeking directions to the authorities, made it clear that the process should be concluded without exceeding a maximum period of four weeks.
The petition was filed by Tekula Sudarshan Reddy, who sought directions to declare him elected as chairperson, stating that ward councillors had already elected him by a show of hands during the municipal council meeting held on Feb 17. However, the process was stalled after the son of councillor Yadagiri filed a habeas corpus petition before the high court, alleging that his father had been kidnapped. Counsel for Reddy argued that although the court had ordered the election process to be stayed, the election had already been completed by the time the order was issued. He further submitted that after Yadagiri appeared before the court the following day, the court permitted the election process to proceed and urged that directions be issued to complete the process by declaring Reddy as chairperson. Senior counsel Vidyasagar, appearing for the commission, submitted that the govt needed to make necessary arrangements to conduct the election and that a letter in this regard had already been sent. After recording the submissions, the judge directed that the election be completed within a maximum of four weeks and disposed of the petition.
