HYDERABAD: A division bench of High Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India and the State Election Commission for filing counter affidavits regarding the steps taken for implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities while conducting elections.

The bench was passing this order based on a PIL by one M Srinivasulu and others, representing the Network of Persons with Disability Organizations of the city, complaining non-implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities as per the Disabilities Act, 2016 and the orders of the ECI while conducting elections to Telangana recently. In the letter, it was stated that the Act recognizes 21 disabilities, including intellectual and psychological. Of the 20 lakh population with disabilities, about eight lakh voters with disabilities were missing from the voters list in the State due to which they have lost their right to vote in the recently concluded elections.

They sought for implementation of the orders passed by the ECI earlier and for arranging special polling booths to the disabled persons. They sought directions to the authorities for effective implementation of the Rights of Persons with disabilities and the orders issued by Election Commission of India from time to time so that no physically disabled voter was left without franchising his vote.The bench directed the ECI and SEC to file counter affidavits on the issues raised in the letter and adjourned the case hearing by three weeks.

ECI directed to file counter on Malreddy’s plea

The Election Commission of India was also directed to file counter affidavit by Jan 30 in the petition filed by Malreddy Ranga Reddy seeking direction to the EC to count all the printed slips of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) polled in the recent election in Ibrahimpatnam Assembly constituency and to nullify the potential errors in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and to recount and cross verify the EVM votes with VVPAT slips of all polling stations in the segment. He contested on BSP ticket and lost election in the hands of TRS candidate Manchireddy Kishan Reddy. The bench was passing this order in the petition by Malreddy contending that there were a lot of discrepancies in the votes polled in polling station numbers 112, 199 and 221 of the said assembly segment.