Hyderabad High Court on Friday dismissed two Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitions challenging the dissolution of Telangana Assembly nine months ahead of its full term and the preparations being made by the Election Commission of India for early polls in Telangana.
The judgement was delivered by a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice S.V. Bhatt. Senior counsels of the Supreme Court P. Niroop Reddy and C.A. Sundaram presented arguments on behalf of the petitioners and Telangana State respectively.
The two PIL petitions assumed importance as the petitioners challenged dissolution of the First Legislative Assembly of Telangana (which was newly carved out in 2014) resulting in early polls in the State. While the petitioners sought direction for the Governor to summon the House under Article 174 of the Constitution — invoking his discretionary power — to seek opinion of all members on the dissolution of the House.
Citing the judgement in R. Krishnaiah vs Union of India case, the Bench said that the Governor’s decision cannot be challenged except on the grounds of mala fide or extraneous and irrelevant considerations. Referring to the qualifying date for registration of new voters, the Bench said that the date fixed through legislation cannot be changed depending upon any particular election.
The qualifying date is a statutory matter and is not made dependent upon any particular election or elections.
However, the additions, deletions and corrections to the electoral rolls could be carried on with reference to the qualifying date, the Bench said.