The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday stalled the e-Watch Online application which was launched by the State Election Commission for the upcoming Gram Panchayat/Local Elections.
The application was launched recently by the SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar for conducting a fair election in the state and for reporting the violations of MCC and curbing malpractices.
However, the use of the app was challenged in the AP High court claiming that the application was developed by a private agency on demand from the SEC.
According to the petitioners, the SEC did not adhere to the National Cyber Security Policy, 2013 and the Andhra Pradesh Cyber Security Policy, 2017 guidelines issued by the Union of India, Election Commission of India and State Election Commission.
The petitioners claimed that an app developed by the Election Commission of India and another by the AP Panchayati Raj department were accessible but strangely did not find approval with the SEC.
The High Court said that the e-watch app should not be used as it is not authorized. The court posted the next hearing to February 17.