SC dismisses Koppula’s plea to quash poll plaint

HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of a special leave petition (SLP) filed by minister Koppula Eshwar, the TRS Dharmapuri MLA, in the matter of recounting of votes in the 2018 Assembly election. In his petition, Eshwar had requested the court to set aside the orders issued by the Telangana High Court in an election petition filed against him.

Congress candidate Adluri Laxman Kumar who lost to Eshwar by 441 votes had filed an election petition. Eshwar and Laxman secured 70,579 votes and 70,138 respectively.

Contending that there was no proof of malpractices as alleged, the MLA had filed a rejection petition in the High Court seeking to dismiss Laxman Kumar’s election petition. The High Court dismissed Eshwar’s petition. Challenging the High Court order., Eshwar had filed the SLP before the apex court.

On Wednesday, an SC bench was not inclined to pass orders on the request of Eshwar. The bench observed that when the final orders were yet to come in the High Court, there was no point in intervening at this stage. Eshwar therefore withdrew the petition. The election case will be heard by the High Court on Thursday.