HC declines to stay polls to Kakinada civic body

The High Court at Hyderabad refused to stay the elections to Kakinada Municipal Corporation while admitting a writ petition challenging the notification issued for the polls. The court, however, made it clear that the election results will be subject to the outcome of the writ petition.

Justice P Naveen Rao gave these interim directions on Thursday while hearing a batch of writ petitions challenging the conduct of elections to Kakinada Municipal Corporation. The Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department of Andhra Pradesh had issued a G.O. in this regard on August 2, while the State Election Commission issued a notification for conduct of election on August 3.

Two writ petitions were filed challenging the notification on the ground that the AP Municipal Corporations Act stipulates a minimum of 50 wards to recognise the city as a corporation. However, in Kakinada with the High Court recently staying the merger of three villages comprising two wards in the Kakinada Municipality, the actual number of wards would be 48 only.

Therefore, elections cannot be conducted, pleaded the petitioners. Another writ petition was filed seeking the same relief on the grounds that it was not clarified to which category will the post of Mayor of Kakinada be reserved.

Justice Naveen Rao heard the petitions together on August 10 but had reserved for orders, which were delivered on Thursday. He dismissed the miscellaneous petitions seeking stay of conduct of elections and posted the main petitions for further hearing in the second week of September.

The judge agreed with the views expressed by the Andhra Pradesh Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas and the counsel for the State Election Commission that once elections have been notified, the Act does not allow staying the polls. The judge made it clear that the election results would be subject to the outcome of the main writ petitions.