HC quashes Panchayat poll notification in AP

Hyderabad, June 20 (UNI) In what is considered a setback to the Andhra Pradesh government and the State Election Commission, a single judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court today quashed the panchayat poll notification, a day before the last date for withdrawal of nominations for the two-phase elections to the local Bodies.

As the verdict of the Single Judge, Mr Justice P S Narayana virtually brought to halt the electoral process for the local bodies, already underway in the state, for the first time in the history of the state, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and State Election Commissioner A V S Reddy separately announced that a Division Bench of the High Court would be moved tomorrow against the order.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and TDP president Chanrababu Naidu asserted that his party would implead in the case and also move the Supreme Court to fight against ''undemocratic'' Congress government.

Justice Narayana, who heard the batch of writ petitions questioning the validity of electoral rolls and of the June 10 notification, observed the SEC had issued it close on the heels of the judgement of the division bench remitting the matter to a single Judge. He said this had clearly displayed the Election Commissioner's eagerness more to get over the legal hurdles rather than solving the problem.

He held the notification illegal, contrary to Article 14, 243-K of the Constitution, Sections 11, 12 and 201 of the Panchayat Raj Act.

The judge also observed that the State Election Commissioner overlooking the objections to the electoral rolls was also illegal.

Senior TRS leader and Union Minister of State for Rural Development A Narendra saw a 'conspiracy' allegedly by the TDP to ''subvert'' the Panchayat Raj elections.

While BJP state president N Indrasena Reddy demanded the Congress government to step down from office in the wake of the High Court verdict, CPI state secretary K Narayana and CPI(M) Polit Burcall member and State Secretary B V Raghavulu found fault with the Rajasekhara Reddy Government for discrepancies in the voters list.

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