The Telangana State High Court on Tuesday expressed anger against Karimnagar MP and BJP leader Bandi Sanjay.Bandi Sanjay was penalised for being repeatedly absent from the cross-examination during the trial in the High Court on BRS leader and Karimnagar MLA Gangula Kamalakar’s election dispute.
Recently, the High Court expressed impatience when he asked for another deadline.
Bandi Sanjay’s lawyer requested the High Court to give another deadline as he is currently in America.
The High Court has made it clear that the investigation will be over as the election petitions are to be decided within six months.He approached the court saying Gangula Kamalakar’s election was invalid and sought three times from last July 21.
The lawyer said that Bandi Sanjay will be present on September 12 after coming from America.With this, the High Court ordered Sanjay to pay Rs 50,000 to the Military Welfare Fund failing to attend the cross-examination.
Later, the hearing was adjourned to September 20.
After the 2018 elections, Sanjay and Congress’ Ponnam Prabhakar, who lost to Kamalakar, filed separate election petitions in the High Court, seeking a declaration of Kamalakar’s election as void.
Sanjay alleged that Kamalakar had spent more than the amount fixed by the Election Commission of India.He requested the court to give a direction stating that the returning officer’s declaration was invalid and to declare him (Sanjay) as the winner.
Dealing with the election petitions, Justice Chillakuru Sumalatha, on July 10, appointed an advocate commissioner to record the evidence and cross-examine them.The court directed Sanjay to appear before the advocate commissioner to provide the evidence.
For 45 days, Sanjay did not appear citing the Winter Session of Parliament.The court, on July 31, directed him to appear before the commission between August 11 and 17.Though the advocate commissioner scheduled a meeting four times between July 10 and September 5, Sanjay failed to appear.The BJP leader’s counsel requested the court to schedule another date because Sanjay would return from a foreign trip on September 12.
The court viewed it as deliberate and wilful disobedience of its orders and imposed the costs on Sanjay.The court ordered him to deposit the amount to the Army Welfare Fund and to submit the proof of evidence.
The court directed him to appear before the advocate commissioner and adjourned the election petition to September 20.
