HC nod for vote counting of SNDP Trust

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday granted permission to the presiding officer of the election to the Sivagiri Sree Narayana Dharmasangam Trust to count the votes.A Division Bench comprising Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and Justice C T Ravikumar passed the order, while considering a petition, challenging the election to the administrative board of the Trust.The court asked the presiding officer not to publish the results of the election and directed to submit the election results in a sealed cover.The court further observed that the present board shall continue till further orders from the court.The High Court has sought a report from the District Court, Kollam, regarding orders issued in connection with the election dispute.The petition challenging the election was filed by Trust board member Swami Swaroopananda and a few others.As per the bylaw of the trust, the right to take a decision on election is vested with the general body of the trust.But the decision to conduct election on August 19 was taken by the administrative board, the petitioner argued.