Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday, June 9, dismissed an election petition challenging the victory of CPI’s Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao from the Kothagudem Assembly constituency, emphasising that baseless election petitions should not linger over legislators and distract them from their public service responsibilities.
The petition was filed by a voter, Nandu Lal Agarwal, who alleged that Rao had failed to disclose his wife’s name in his election affidavit, purportedly violating Rule 4A of the Conduct of Election Rules.
Agarwal further claimed that Rao’s nomination papers were improperly accepted by the Returning Officer and that his affidavit was notarised by an advocate whose notary certificate had expired.
Representing Rao, senior counsel G Vidya Sagar argued that under the modified form of the affidavit, there was no requirement to mention the names of spouse or dependents. He also noted that even the petitioner could not dispute that Rao’s two children were not dependents.
Justice K Lakshman, presiding over the case, ruled that Rao had substantially complied with disclosure requirements by providing his wife’s PAN, income details, and information on her assets, even if her name was omitted.
The judge also observed that the notary’s renewal application was pending at the time the affidavit was signed, and subsequent validation by authorities had regularised the document.
In his order, Justice Lakshman stated that the electorate’s mandate should not be overturned on technicalities in the absence of concrete evidence of malpractice.
He dismissed the petition, reiterating that unfounded election challenges should not be allowed to disrupt the work of elected legislators.
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