Telangana HC finds ‘no abnormality’ behind new voter applications in Munugode

HYDERABAD: A bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy, on Friday declared that it found no abnormality in the Munugode voters list provided to the Telangana High Court. However, the court adjourned further hearing on the plea filed by BJP State general secretary Gujjala Venkata Krishna Reddy to October 21, while instructing the Election Commission of India (ECI) to submit the most recent updated voter list.

After reviewing the statement provided by the Chief Election Officer, the bench concluded that “the total voters in Munugode as of October 12, 2018 were 2,14,847, and as of October 11, 2022, this number has increased to 2,38,759. This increase, the bench ruled, was not unusual.

Avinash Desai, standing counsel for the ECI, submitted a signed statement of the CEO and informed the court that pursuant to Section 23(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, the electoral list for Munugode will be frozen on Friday, the last day of filing of nominations.

As per the CEO’s statement, the authorities received a total of 25,013 Form 6 applications, of which 7,247 were rejected and 12,249 approved. As of October 11, 2022, a total of 5,517 Form 6 applications were pending. Also, 2,142 Form 8 applications were received, of which 1,813 were rejected and 239 accepted and 182 were pending. 

B Rachana, counsel for the petitioner, told the court that the authorities were not adhering to the Registration of Electors Rules-1960. She said that as per Rule 10, the draft electoral roll should be made public as soon as it is ready. 

At this, Justice Bhuyan asked: “What order do you want? Do you wish to put the elections on hold or freeze the voter list? Those individuals are not before us; you are requesting that they be removed from the voter list; we cannot do so; your decency has been recorded, and the writ petition is still ongoing. If you win by a large margin, that may be the end; if you lose by a small margin, we will look into it.”