HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Friday directed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to appear before it on June 6, 2022, for not responding to the notices of the court and not intimating the reasons for not holding elections to the Bhadrachalam gram panchayat.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili expressed its anger over the Chief Secretary not filing a reply to its notices dated February 11, 2022.
The court issued notices while dealing with a PIL filed by Sondi Veeriah, a tribal activist from Bhadradri Kothagudem.
The government officials said that it was a municipality. But the petitioner contended that the Telangana Municipalities Act 2019 was not applicable to the scheduled areas in the State. However, he also brought to the notice of the court that no step was initiated by authorities to conduct the elections.
On other hand, the State Election Commission told the court that it was ready to hold the elections, immediately after the state government cleared the ambiguity. Based on this, the court directed the Chief Secretary to make his stand clear and file a report or else to appear. However, the Chief Secretary failed to comply with the court order, which invited the wrath of the court.
