HYDERABAD: The Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Telangana high court on Thursday that it will not issue a notification for a by-election to the Khairatabad Assembly constituency until a pending election petition is resolved.The seat fell vacant following the high court’s disqualification of MLA Danam Nagender.The submission was made before a division bench comprising chief justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and justice Vakiti Ramakrishna Reddy during the hearing of a petition filed by Congress leader P Vijaya Reddy.Vijaya Reddy, who finished as the runner-up in 2023, had previously filed an election petition seeking to declare Nagender’s election null and void and to declare her the winner.Representing the petitioner, senior counsel Vedula Venkataramana argued that Supreme Court precedent prohibits treating a seat as a “casual vacancy” while an election petition seeking a declaration of victory remains pending.Concurring with the argument, ECI standing counsel Avinash Desai assured the court that the seat would not be declared a casual vacancy until the election petition reaches final adjudication.Taking note of the ECI’s stance, the bench directed the Commission to submit a formal affidavit confirming that no by-election notification will be issued in the interim. The court adjourned the case to October 6.
