Don’t delay polls: HC to Telangana

HYDERABAD: A division bench of Telangana High Court on Monday said that it was high time that the municipality polls in the State were conducted.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy was dealing with two PILs, seeking stay on issuance of notification to conduct municipal polls. They were asking for the re-conduct of the pre-poll exercise, in the manner as prescribed under the Telangana Municipalities Act.

The bench told the petitioners that there was no need to magnify every small issue, as it was common to make slight errors during the pre-poll process. The bench asked the State government to identify the lapses and rectify them.

Petitioners’ counsel Ch Naresh Reddy told the court that the municipal authorities have failed to follow the guidelines prescribed under the Telangana Municipalities Act for pre-poll exercise, and instead conducted it in a hasty manner. In fact, they even failed to inform even the local MPs and MLAs and gain their suggestions prior to division of wards. State additional advocate general J Ramachandra Rao claimed that the authorities have completed the pre-poll exercise in consonance with the rules. In fact, the State was lagging behind the schedule in conduct of polls as the term already expired in July, he added.After hearing both sides, the bench said the polls should not be delayed anymore.The matter has been posted to September 11 for further hearing.