The court delivered its verdict on 3 May, allowing the petition of Pathireddy Rajeswar Reddy. It also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on Vittal.
Published May 03, 2024 | 6:43 PM ⚊ Updated May 04, 2024 | 12:42 AM
Telangana High Court denies IAS officers' stay request (Wikimedia Commons)
The BRS has suffered yet another knock: Dande Vittal — its MLC elected from the Adilabad Local Authorities constituency in 2021 — has been declared disqualified by the Telangana High Court.
The court delivered its verdict on Friday, 3 May, allowing the petition of Pathireddy Rajeswar Reddy. It also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on Vittal.
The petitioner, who filed his nomination papers as an independent, sought disqualification of Vittal. He said that his nomination was withdrawn using forged signatures.
Vittal won the election against independent Pendur Pushparani by garnering 664 of the total 860 votes polled. The total number of voters was 937.
The BRS fielded Vittal, who hails from Khagaznagar in the Asifabad district, for the Adilabad Local Authorities Constituency for which election was held in December 2021.
Penduri Pushparani was an independent tribal candidate. Interestingly, 22 of the 23 other candidates — including Rajeswar Reddy — withdrew their nomination papers, leaving only Pushparani in the fray.
Rajeswar Reddy later filed a petition in the high court that his signatures were forged on withdrawal papers and submitted, which resulted in the “withdrawal” of his nomination papers.
The high court, after hearing the arguments of the petitioner and the respondent, disqualified Vittal as an MLC.
(Edited by Arkadev Ghoshal)
