Court dismisses AP govt's petition to halt local body polls

The public prosecutor argued that the Supreme Court had made it clear that the Election Commission (SEC) should consult the state government in the matter of conducting elections. Counsel appointed by the SEC said that as a constitutional body, it has the power to exercise its powers voluntarily in the conduct of elections under Article 243K and added: "the onus was on the state government to co-operate in the election."

Amravati: Andhra Pradesh High Court has made it clear that the elections to local body elections cannot be halted on the basis of differences between the state government and the State Election Commission over the conduct of panchayat elections.

The court directed the State Election Commission to file an affidavit on the next process. Gopalakrishna Dwivedi, the chief secretary of the Panchayati Raj department, has approached the high court challenging the proceedings given by the SEC on November 17 to conduct the gram panchayat elections in February.

The public prosecutor argued that the Supreme Court had made it clear that SEC should consult the state government in the matter of conducting elections.

There are several active cases of COVID-19 infections in the State. The SEC is acting without considering the opinion of the government, said the public prosecutor adding that elections cannot be held in February under the current circumstances.

On the other hand, the SEC counsel contended that the tribunal had directed that the election process be initiated. He said the SEC, a constitutional body, has the power to exercise its powers voluntarily in the conduct of elections under Article 243K.

He added the onus was on the state government to co-operate in the election. SEC's counsel recalled that the election process of local bodies had started only after the High Court bench order.

After considering the arguments of the two, the court ruled that the election process could not be stopped at this stage.