HC nod to counting of EMC votes 

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday accorded permission for counting of votes for Eluru Municipal Corporation and announcement of results. However, it directed the State Election Commission to ensure that counting of votes is done, following Covid guidelines issued by both State and Central governments. 

Hearing the appeal filed by the State government and TV Annapurna Seshukumari challenging the interim stay on the elections of Eluru Municipal Corporation issued by a single judge on March 8 following a petition claiming that there were mistakes in the voters list, a division bench comprising Chief Justice AK Goswamy and justice C Praveen Kumar vacated the stay.

Earlier, the division bench had allowed conduct of elections, not counting of votes. The court said the single judge issued stay orders after the election process commenced. The apex court has clearly stated that courts cannot intervene once the election process has commenced, it said. 

Meanwhile, the High Court refused to issue an interim stay order on ACB investigation into alleged irregularities in Sangam Dairy in Guntur. However, it asked the ACB Special Court to take decision as per law with regard to the custody of Sangam Dairy chairman Narendra Kumar and MD Gopalakrishnan.