High Court stays T Govt plans to shorten election schedule

The High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad has on Thursday stayed the Telangana Government's decision to amend the section 33 of the 5th Schedule of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act 1955 and shorten the time required to conduct the election to 15 days.

The TRS government sought to shoten the time required for filing, scrutiny of nominations, polling and announcement of results to 15 days. This was contested by the Congress and the BJP in the High Court. The High Court, which heard the arguments on Thursday stayed the amendment and ordered that the elections be conducted by February 9 or 10. The court said that the officials cannot amend the Act and amendment can only be effected by the Legislative Assembly.
The Telangana Government told the court that the reservation process for the GHMC divisions would be completed by Saturday (Jan 9). The court, which found fault with the officials, ordered that the election process be completed within 31 days excluding the Sundays and holidays.
Congress leader Marri Sasidhar Reddy, who is a petitioner in the case, said the TRS government tried to destroy the democratic fabric and deliberately delayed the announcement of the ward reservations, which should have been made public by December 8. Jandhyala Ravisankar, the advocate, said this was a historic judgement and expressed the hope that the election notification would be issued either on Saturday or Sunday.