Hyderabad: In what may put brakes to the Election Commission's issuance of the schedule for Telangana Assembly polls, the High Court on Friday began the hearings on the petitions filed pertaining to the irregularities in the registration of voters in the electoral rolls. The High Court, which began its hearing after it received the Supreme Court's directions on the settlement of the irregularities in the electoral roll, stayed the final electoral roll after hearing the arguments of both the parties.

Also, the Court ordered the EC to refrain from release the election notification until October 8, keeping in view the electoral rolls and the election writ petition.

Prior to adjourning the case to Monday, the Court ordered the EC to file a counter petition on October 8 and to provide a copy of the electoral rolls to the petitioners and the High Court. The High Court also restricted the EC from publishing the final electoral rolls in its website. Earlier, the Court struck down two petitions out of the four filed with regard to the electoral rolls.

The High Court took up the case after the Supreme Court directed it to settle the case filed by senior Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy. The Congress leader claimed that irregularities to the extent of over 20 lakh votes have been seen in the fresh electoral roll. He has asked for the implementation of the previous electoral rolls announced for the general elections.

Also Read: SC Issues Notice To AP Govt Over High Court Bifurcation