On Wednesday, Justice K Lakshman of the Telangana High Court directed the District Election Officer and District Collector, Jagtial, to break open the seal of the Dharmapuri Legislative Assembly Constituency strong room at Dr VRK College of Engineering and Technology, Nookapally Village, Jagtial.
Adluri Laxman Kumar of the Congress party, who lost to BRS candidate Koppula Eshwar, filed an election petition in the High Court in 2019 alleging irregularities in the counting and recounting of VVPAT slips of EVM at certain locations in the Dharmapuri Constituency. As the District Collector informed the court that they had misplaced keys to two of the three strong rooms and that an investigation was underway, the High Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to enquire into the matter.
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The ECI informed the court on Wednesday that they would be able to submit the inquiry report by April 26. The judge then directed the officers, referring to the ECI proceeding of April 17, to break open the strong rooms with the assistance of a locksmith and carpenter in the presence of all political parties and hand over the election documents to the returning officer, who was then asked to submit documents to the court. Justice Lakshman also directed the District Collector to provide the returning officer with a vehicle and protection when submitting the documents to court.
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