The Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of the plea filed by the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) seeking an extension of the deadline for filing nominations in the Andhra Pradesh municipal elections. A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana closed the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State Election Commission (SEC), informed the court that the time for filing nominations had been extended wherever any difficulty had been found. Noting that the nomination period had ended, the Chief Justice remarked, "Now contest the elections, all the best," and said the bench will pass a detailed order and issue all necessary directions to the SEC to ensure free and fair elections in the most transparent manner, with the High Court directed to monitor the issue on a day-to-day basis.

Source: LiveLaw

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, for the YSRCP, again contended that many candidates of the principal opposition party were prevented from filing nomination forms and pointed out that 532 out of 722 candidates are contesting unopposed. The Chief Justice responded that such "sweeping statements" will not help anybody and asked counsel to name any candidate who went to file a nomination but was prevented. Justice Bagchi said the claims were disputed questions of fact that the court cannot go into at this stage: those whose representations were favourably considered had already filed, and anyone who feels a valid claim was wrongly disputed can file an election petition, with the issue kept open as a valid election dispute if they can show they actually went and were prevented. LawChakra likewise reported the court treating the YSRCP nomination claims as disputed facts.

Source: LawChakra

Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, for the State, informed the court that all requisite steps were taken and security was provided wherever it was asked for. When Senior Advocate Niranjan Reddy pointed to the court's earlier CCTV directions, the Chief Justice said orally that those directions will continue to operate for all elections and that all recordings will have to be preserved for a time beyond the limitation period for election challenges. The bench declined the YSRCP's request to adopt the approach used in the Punjab municipal elections case, where a retired High Court judge was appointed to look into similar allegations, saying it will not go into a fishing and roving enquiry.

Source: LiveLaw

The YSRCP petition, filed through its general secretary Lella Appireddy, alleged that several of its candidates were assaulted, threatened or physically prevented from reaching nomination centres during the nomination period from October 16 to 18, with incidents alleged in Punganur, Rayachoti, Kadapa and Tirupati — allegations the State and the Commission dispute in substance. Last week, a special bench had directed the SEC to consider extending the deadline wherever candidates were unable to file because of the law-and-order situation and deferred publication of the candidates' list to October 25; the SEC later extended the deadline in certain local bodies, and Tuesday's hearing was for the State and the SEC to report compliance.

Source: South Politics