Telangana High Court Issues Notices Over Teachers' Voting Rights in MLC Elections
The Telangana High Court has taken up a case concerning voting rights for primary and upper primary government school teachers in the State. A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao, has issued notices to several authorities, including the Union Law Ministry, Election Commission, State Chief Secretary, and other officials. These authorities have been directed to respond within two weeks.
The case was brought forward by Bheemanaboina Krishna Murthy, a government secondary grade teacher from Bandakadipally village in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district. The petitioner is challenging the government’s decision to exclude primary and upper primary teachers in government schools from voting in the Teachers’ Constituencies of the State Legislative Council.
The petitioner specifically questioned the validity of Section 27 (3b, 5b, and 6) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1950. He argued that these provisions unfairly deny voting rights to teachers who hold graduation certificates but work in local bodies, primary, and upper primary government schools.
Chikkudu Prabhakar, the petitioner’s legal counsel, pointed out that these teachers are being deprived of their right to vote in the upcoming MLC (Member of Legislative Council) elections. The elections are scheduled to be held in various districts, including Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam, and others, except for Maddur mandal.
The petitioner also requested the court to suspend the election-related proceedings initiated by the district collectors of Nalgonda and Karimnagar. The High Court has now sought responses from the concerned authorities to address this issue.
