The AP High Court on Tuesday set aside the election of Congress legislator from Kurupam Assembly constituency Mr Janardhan Thatraj. While the Constituency was reserved for Scheduled Tribes, the High Court declared that Mr Janardhan did not belong to STs and that he hails from Kshatriya community. The court after going through the arguments and verifying the documentary evidence submitted by the petitioners, declared the election of Mr Janardhan, a non-ST, from a Constituency reserved for tribals as illegal.

The Telugu Desam candidate Mr N. Jayaraj, who lost the election to Mr Janardhan, approached the court seeking the cancellation of Janardhan’s election. Giving the verdict Justice G. Bhavani Prasad, however, dismissed another petition filed by the TD candidate to declare himself as duly elected. Mr Janardhan is expected to file a petition in the High Court seeking suspension of the judgement enabling him to approach the Supreme Court. The petition may come up for hearing on Wednesday.

In another case, the court dismissed a petition seeking cancellation of election of Mr A.V. Rambabu from Giddalur Assembly segment in Prakasam district. Mr Rambabu won on the ticket of the erstwhile Praja Rajyam. An independent candidate who lost the election Mr S.A.K. Moinuddin filed a petition alleging that Mr Rambabu indulged in malpractices in elections. He also alleged that Mr Rambabu concealed that he was executing government contracts at the time of election.

The MLA, however, submitted evidence to the court that he resigned from the posts in firms which were executing the contracts before contesting in the elections.

No bar on idol immersion
The High Court on Tuesday said that a ban on immersion of idols made of plaster of Paris in water bodies could not be enforced with immediate effect. A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice P.C. Ghose and Justice Vilas V. Afzulpurkar said such steps could be taken in a phased manner and it is essential to get the people’s support to stop immersion of idols made of polluting materials a success.

Tech colleges against G.O. 54
When counsel for the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee informed the High Court that the committee would conduct inspections now, the judge remarked that the AFRC had fixed the fee structure for colleges which undertook to abide by the government’s decision and proposed to conduct inspection of those colleges which approached the High Court on the fee structure issue. “Is it justifiable?” he asked. Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy sought to know whether the AFRC had acted independently while fixing the fee and had inspected colleges before arriving at the fee structure.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering Colleges Management Association (APPECMA), some educational societies and individuals filed a petition in the High Court seeking suspension of operation of GO 54. The petitioners alleged that the government had issued the GO on August 11 to force colleges to agree to the common fee of Rs 35,000. They alleged that the GO was issued to discriminate against those colleges which had not bowed to government pressure.