2018 poll petition: HC imposes Rs 3K costs on Addanki Dayakar

HYDERABAD: Justice M. Laxman of Telangana High Court on Monday imposed ₹3,000 costs on Congress leader Addanki Dayakar, who had filed an election petition against BRS Tungathuruthy MLA Gadari Kishore Kumar.

Dayakar lost to Kishore Kumar in 2018 by a margin of 1,847 votes. In 2019, he filed an election petition alleging that there were discrepancies in the polling and counting. Specifically, he complained to the court that the polled votes shown in the electronic voting machines did not match the VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail).

The petition has been pending for around four years. The High Court recently directed Dayakar to submit the documents related to Form 17C (furnishing copies to counting agents) and forms furnished by polling agents. These form one of the crucial records to defend against the allegations of electoral malpractice.

Dayakar couldn’t submit the records, even after the court gave him sufficient time.

On Monday, the judge imposed costs on Dayakar delaying the submission of documents and adjourning the hearing in the petition to September 13.