Anushka Mansharamani
The Supreme Court dismissed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Andhra Pradesh government and the employees.
The petition challenged the division bench orders passed to conduct panchayat elections.
The bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Koul and Justice Hrishikesh Roy heard the SLP and stated that the court does not have the power and authority to interfere in the election process.
Mukul Rohatgi, counsel for the state government contended that due to the vaccination drive taking place the state is finding it difficult to conduct elections.
The bench, however, stated that that the state election commission (SEC) is working as per the rules and regulation therefore it would be wrong to blame the state election commission.
One of the question’s put forth by the court was the connection of the employees to the election process.
The court refuted the arguments made by the petitioners and upheld the judgement passed by the division bench of the High court and permitted the SEC to conduct panchayat elections.
