Hyderabad, August 21: In a major setback to the ruling Congress party, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday set aside the election of Janardhan Thatraj from Kurupam Assembly constituency in Vizianagaram district on the grounds that he does not belong to the Scheduled Tribes community for which the Assembly seat was reserved.
Disposing a petition filed by the Telugu Desam leader N Jayaraj, High Court judge Justice Grandhi Bhavani Prasad observed that the election of Janardhan was invalid as he did not belonged to the tribal community.
It may be mentioned that Janardhan, a nephew of Environment Minister S Vijayarama Raju, won the Kurupam constituency in 2009 elections defeating TDP candidate N Jayaraj. With local Adivasi Vikas Parishad protesting against his election, TDP candidate Jayaraj moved a petition in the High Court challenging that he did not belong to SC tribe and submitted documents to substantiate his arguments.
While delivering the judgment after three years, the court gave four weeks time to Janardhan to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court. Responding to High Court's order, Janardhan Thatraj said that he would move a petition in the Supreme Court after seeking legal advice from experts in this regard.
- INN
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