The Supreme Court on June 3 found the conduct of YSRCP MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy, who stormed into a polling booth in Andhra Pradesh with eight others to smash the electronic voting machine (EVM) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines by hurling them to the ground, a “sheer mockery of the entire electoral system”.
A vacation Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta viewed the CCTV footage and photographs of the alleged incident, and said such conduct deserved no interim protection from arrest.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) agent Seshagiri Rao Namburi challenging a State High Court order of May 28 granting Mr. Reddy interim protection from arrest.
“This is a complete mockery of the system. How many people can enter a polling booth like this… Why should indulgence be shown to such people?” Justice Mehta asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Mr. Reddy.
Mr. Singh said the counting of the election results is on June 4, and the High Court has already scheduled a hearing in the issue on June 6.
He said the “provocation” for the alleged act originated from outside the booth. Mr. Reddy, a four-time MLA, was named in the First Information Report (FIR) only 10 days later. The video and the photographs shown in court were not official but shot by private persons.
But Justice Mehta said the video footage prima facie did not look doctored.
“Even if we assume that the photos are as you say, the very fact that the complaint says the EVM-VVPAT were destroyed by eight persons who stormed into the polling booth, is shocking,” Justice Kumar addressed Mr. Singh.
The senior lawyer said the question here was “who really stormed the booth”.
The Bench recorded an undertaking from Mr. Reddy’s lawyers that he would neither enter nor remain within the vicinity of the vote counting station on June 4. The court said such a precaution was enough to allay the apprehensions of the petitioner.
Further, the Bench requested the High Court to decide the anticipatory bail petitions filed by Mr. Reddy on their own merits on June 6, without being influenced by the May 28 order granting him interim protection from arrest.
The court did not agree to a suggestion by the petitioner to bar Mr. Reddy from the Macherla Assembly constituency itself.
“Even if he gives an undertaking to not enter the counting area, his supporters will enter,” the petitioner’s counsel submitted.
“We cannot help it. This (counting) is part of a democratic process,” Justice Kumar responded.
Published - June 03, 2024 06:08 pm IST
