SC to consider Anekal councillors' plea against disqualification

The Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to consider on merit a plea against disqualification of three councillors of Anekal municipal town council for failing to file their election expenditure but refused to intervene with the bypolls scheduled on June 19.

A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Hima Kohli gave three weeks further time to the state election commission to file its response and one week thereafter to the petitioners for filing their rejoinder. The court put the matter for hearing on July 25.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for K Srinivas and two others, submitted that the petitioners have been disqualified not only to contest the bypolls but the next term as well. She asked the court to provide them interim relief.

The bench, however, said, the petitioners apparently did not file their election expenditure record within the prescribed time. They filed the writ petition before the Karnataka High Court but by the time, the election process had already begun.

"Let a response be filed. We will hear the case on merit," the bench said.

"It would be like the operation is successful but the patient is dead, since election would be over by then," she said.

The court, however, fixed the matter for consideration next month.

Srinivas, S Lalitha and Hemalatha C K were elected to the municipal body on May 30, 2019.

The State Election Commission had on November 15, 2021, disqualified them as councillors of their respective wards.

The Karnataka High Court's single as well as division bench dismissed their plea against disqualification for failing to submit the list of election expenses before the State Election Commission within 30 days from the date of declaration of election.