The counsel for Samajwadi Forward Bloc party on Friday submitted to Telangana High Court that Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan be recused from hearing a writ petition filed by it over not allotting truck symbol to it.
Appearing for the SFB party before a division bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice A. Rajasheker Reddy, the lawyer said Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (who was second respondent in the petition) had met the CJ earlier.
That can be considered as ground for recusal from hearing the petition, the counsel said. On hearing the submission, the CJ sought to know from the counsel if any affidavit was filed mentioning details of the meeting between the CJ and the CM.
He observed that the CM and the CJ could meet for business transaction and to ensure smoother administration.
The recusal request can be considered if clear submissions were made through an affidavit, the bench said.
The Election Commission of India counsel Avinash Desai told the bench that an affidavit was filed explaining the rules based on which 'truck' was deleted from the list of symbols.