VIJAYAWADA: Justice Krishna Mohan of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday directed the state government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to file detailed counter arguments in the issue of delay in accepting mass resignations of volunteers ahead of the state assembly elections.
The petition was filed in April by Bharatiya Janata Party chief Bode Ramachandra Yadav, who had sought directions to the government not to accept the resignation of volunteers, who had resigned en masse in the wake of a controversy over their possible involvement in the electoral process and an ECI order barring them from paying social security pensions.
Advocate Umesh Chandra, appearing for the petitioners, informed the court that recently resigned volunteers have filed several cases against ministers of the previous government for forcing them to resign. He also informed the court that the issue of mass resignations during elections, which goes against the letter and spirit of free and fair elections, needs to be resolved once and for all and a detailed counter-argument is essential in the case. The court directed the government and the ECI to file a detailed counter-argument and referred the matter for further hearing on July 22.
It may be recalled that earlier, the ECI had informed the High Court that over 64,000 volunteers had tendered their resignation ahead of the elections.
