Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday effectively allowed the holding of a public meeting by the TRS in Anumal village in Nalgonda on April 14 for Nagarjunasagar Assembly byelection.
The court adjourned the hearing of two petitions against the meeting to April 15, after the judge said she was not convinced of the need to thwart the meeting.
Justice G. Sri Devi heard two writ petitions filed by two different petitioners seeking a direction to the TRS to restrain from holding the public meeting in Nalgonda. They argued that the meeting would be a violation of the Covid protocols and Election Commission guidelines on such meets.
One petition was filed by Ch. Saidaiah, a resident of Halia, Anumula mandal, who is contesting as an independent. K.K. Mahender Reddy, counsel for the petitioner, said the TRS was trying to gather more than 50,000 people, which would be a violation of the EC guidelines vis-à-vis the Covid situation. The state government had also issued an order on March 27, imposing restrictions on public gatherings and congregations, counsel noted.
Justice Sri Devi said she was not convinced by the contentions raised by counsel. The judge also took into consideration the contentions put forth by Advocate-General B.S. Prasad that all political parties are holding public meetings everywhere.
Another writ petition filed by Goli Saidi Reddy and Goli Srinivas Reddy, both agriculturists from Anumula, challenged the decision of the TRS in holding such a huge gathering on their 1.16-acre land. When the court was told that the approval for the meeting had been given by the returning officer, it asked the petitioners to submit their contentions before that authority first.
The court adjourned the cases to April 15, which meant the TRS can hold the meeting a day before, as planned.
