The AP High Court dismissed the petition filed by the YCP challenging the Election Commission’s orders in the matter of postal ballot. It has given a key judgment agreeing with the directions of the Election Commission regarding the details of seal and status on postal ballots.
A bench of Justice Vijay and Justice Kiranmayi gave its verdict on Saturday stating that the memo given by the Election Commission regarding the counting of postal ballots has made it clear that it cannot be reconciled. The EC said that the signature of the attesting officer on the ‘Form-13A’ related to the voter’s declaration is sufficient, and such postal ballots are valid even if his name, designation and official stamp are not there.
On May 30, the Central Election Commission issued an order clarifying that they should be taken into account during the counting of votes. Challenging these orders, YSRCP general secretary Lella Appireddy filed a lawsuit in the High Court.
In the hearing held on Friday, senior advocate Avinash Desai argued on behalf of the EC and said that the decision of the EC cannot be challenged while the election process is going on. It was contended that there is prohibition under law and the courts cannot interfere at this stage.
It was explained to the court that Section 100 of the Representation of the People Act clarifies the circumstances in which the election is invalid, and that under Article 329(b) the election can only be challenged through an election petition.
In this context, it has been clarified that the order given by the EC on 30th of last month is applicable only in the case of the employees who exercised their right to vote through postal ballot at the facilitation centers who were on election duty and did not deserve to be investigated for this lawsuit.
He said that at the facilitation centers, the attesting officer is appointed by the returning officer, and in this context, the signature of the attesting officer on Form 13A is sufficient. It was explained that there was no need for the official’s name, status and seal, and that the entire postal ballot process at the facilitation centers was video recorded and representatives of political parties were also present at that time.
He said that in August 2023, Rule 18(A) was brought to enable the employees on election duty at the facilitation centers to exercise their right to vote through postal ballot. It has been argued that the attestation of Form 13A regarding the postal ballots of the employees on election duty has been done by the officer appointed by the RO, so there is no need to doubt that attestation.
