Bandi Sanjay fined Rs 50K by Telangana HC

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday penalised BJP’s Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar Rs 50,000 for failing to appear before the advocate commissioner for recording his evidence in an election petition filed against minister Gangula Kamalakar.

After the 2018 elections, Sanjay and Congress’ Ponnam Prabhakar, who lost to Kamalakar, filed separate election petitions in the High Court, seeking a declaration of Kamalakar’s election as void.

Sanjay alleged that Kamalakar had spent more than the amount fixed by the Election Commission of India. He requested the court to give a direction stating that the returning officer’s declaration was invalid and to declare him (Sanjay) as the winner.

Dealing with the election petitions, Justice Chillakuru Sumalatha, on July 10, appointed an advocate commissioner to record the evidence and cross-examine them. The court directed Sanjay to appear before the advocate commissioner to provide the evidence.

For 45 days, Sanjay did not appear citing the Winter Session of Parliament. The court, on July 31, directed him to appear before the commission between August 11 and 17. Though the advocate commissioner scheduled a meeting four times between July 10 and September 5, Sanjay failed to appear. The BJP leader’s counsel requested the court to schedule another date because Sanjay would return from a foreign trip on September 12.

The court viewed it as deliberate and wilful disobedience of its orders and imposed the costs on Sanjay. The court ordered him to deposit the amount to the Army Welfare Fund and to submit the proof of evidence.  The court directed him to appear before the advocate commissioner and adjourned the election petition to September 20.