Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the petitioners who have challenged the action of the Election Commission in not deleting bogus votes from the voters’ list of Telangana state, and also advancing the schedule for the revision of the voters’ list, to approach the Hyderabad High Court. A two-member bench comprising Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan refused to intervene in the two petitions by former minister Marri Shashidhar Reddy and P. Sheshank Reddy, and requested the Hyderabad High Court to hear the petitioners if they moved their pleas on Friday, and decide the matter before October 8.
If any irregularities were found in the voters’ list, the High Court should pass appropriate orders with regard to the date of publication of the final list of voters. Mr Shashidhar Reddy complained that a large number of genuine voters were deleted from the rolls and 65 lakh bogus names were included in the voters’ list in Telangana state. He pleaded that without correcting the mistakes holding the elections will not be correct. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, senior counsel appearing for Mr Shashidhar Reddy, submitted that because of the early finalisation of electoral rolls, as many as 18 lakh youth will not be able to vote as they will attain the age of 18 years by January 1.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, senior counsel appearing for Mr Shashidhar Reddy, said that because of the early elections a large number of first-time voters will be deprived of their right to vote as the electoral rolls were being finalised much ahead of the original schedule. The counsel appearing for the Election Commission brought to the notice of the bench that the Hyderabad High Court has already dismissed the plea of the petitioners, observing that it had not found any irregularities. The bench said that the HC had power to stay the elections if it found any irregularities in the revision of the voters’ list.
