AP High Court directs Ban on Usage of eWatch App introduced by SEC:- The cold war between the Andhra Pradesh government and the State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar reached new heights after the debate started over conducting the local body polls. The SEC was against the polls initially due to the coronavirus pandemic. Soon, the SEC was favorable to conduct the polls but the government of Andhra Pradesh cited the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine saying that the vaccine distribution process will get delayed if the panchayat elections are held in the state. The Andhra Pradesh High Court asked the State Election Commission to conduct the polls and the schedules are released recently.

The State Election Commission introduced the eWatch app and there are several petitions filed against the app. The AP High Court directed the State Election Commission not to use or promote the usage of eWatch app till February 9th. Three petitions are filed against the application and there are arguments saying that the app never completed the security audit. The lawyer representing the Andhra Pradesh government informed that the audit takes five days to complete and the certificate will be received soon. However, the lawyer representing the State Election Commission said that the app is used to receive the complaints ahead of the local body polls in the state.

After hearing the arguments, the High Court asked the State Election Commission not to use eWatch app till February 9th and the court asked the AP government to submit the audit report of the app at the earliest.

(Video Source: NTV Telugu)