The Telangana High Court’s single bench of Justice M. Lakshman listened to the petition filed by Raghavendra Raju against V Srinvas Goud, MLA (BRS) Mahbubnagar. Raju wants Goud’s election to be declared “invalid” because he allegedly hid information about his wife’s lands and loans in the affidavit submitted before the returning officer. Raju claims that Goud, with the help of the returning officer, changed the affidavit. Goud submitted three different affidavits during the election, and he replaced the one dated November 14 with the one dated November 19 in violation of the RP Act. The judge noted that candidates are allowed to make changes to their election affidavit and accepted the affidavit dated November 19. The petition was adjourned for further hearing on August 7.
Goud’s counsel informed the court that Raju is spreading false information about the case in the media and requested a direction to restrain him from speaking about it. Justice Lakshman directed Raju not to refer to the court proceedings in the petition when speaking to the media without permission. He also asked Raju to submit a list of proposed witnesses for examination on August 7 and accepted Goud’s affidavit dated November 19.
In another case, the single bench of Dr. Justice Chillakur Sumalatha heard a petition filed by Bandi Sanjay, Karimnagar MP, against Gangula Kamalakar, minister and MLA of BRS. Sanjay wants Kamalakar’s election to be declared “invalid” because he allegedly hid information in his election affidavit before the Karimnagar returning officer in the 2018 general elections. The court appointed Shailaja, a retired district judge, to cross-examine Sanjay from August 12 to 17. The hearing was adjourned to August 21.
On Monday morning, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court Alok Aradhe administered the oath to three new judges – Laxmi Narayana Alishetty, Anil Kumar Jukanti, and Sujana Kalasikam. They were sworn in as additional judges of the court. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by various judges, advocates, and court staff.
