Telangana HC tells poll official to break open strong room

As the District Collector informed the court that they had misplaced keys of 2 out of 3 strong rooms and an enquiry was being conducted about the same, the High Court directed the ECI to enquire into the matter

Hyderabad: Justice K Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the District Election Officer and District Collector, Jagtial, to break open the seal of the strong room with respect to the Dharmapuri Legislative Assembly Constituency at Dr VRK College of Engineering and Technology, Nookapally Village, Jagtial.

Adluri Laxman Kumar of the Congress party, who lost to BRS candidate Koppula Eshwar had filed an election petition before the High Court in 2019 alleging irregularities in the counting and recounting of the VVPAT slips of EVM at certain places of the Dharmapuri Constituency. As the District Collector informed the court that they had misplaced keys of 2 out of 3 strong rooms and an enquiry was being conducted about the same, the High Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to enquire into the matter. On Wednesday, the ECI informed court that they would be able to submit the enquiry report by April 26. The judge then referring to the proceeding of the ECI dated April 17 directed the officers to break open the strong rooms with the help of a locksmith and carpenter in the presence of all the political parties and handover the documents pertaining to the election to the returning officer, who in turn was asked to submit documents to the court. Justice Lakshman also directed the District Collector to provide vehicle and protection to the returning officer for submitting the documents to court.

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SHRC vacancies

A two-judge Bench of Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and N Tukaramji sought the State government’s response on the vacancies in the post of members and Chairman of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC). One Adnan Mohammed, a practicing advocate moved a public interest litigation case questioning the attitude of the State government in taking essential steps filling up the vacant posts in SHRC. Office of the chairman and members were lying vacant since December 2022, the petitioner said and expressed concern. He further drew the attention of the court to pending cases before the Commission and said there are over 5,245 cases pending. While issuing notice to the State government, the bench made it clear that this case is not a bar for taking immediate steps to fill the posts of the Commission immediately. The Bench adjourned the case to June 30 for further hearing.