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Andhra Pradesh Governor asks govt to reinstate state election commissioner
The state government had removed state election commissioner Ramesh Kumar through an ordinance on April 10.
Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan on Wednesday directed that the state government follow the high court judgment of May 29 ordering reinstatement of retired IAS officer Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar as the state election commissioner (SEC).
A communication to this effect was sent to chief secretary Neelam Sawhney from the Raj Bhavan’s secretariat in the morning.
The latest development is a setback on the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government which has been waging a prolonged legal battle with Ramesh Kumar after sacking him through an ordinance on April 10.
The Governor’s directions follow Ramesh Kumar’s representation to him on Tuesday requesting that he be restored as the SEC as per the directions of the state high court.
The Raj Bhavan communique said in pursuance of the representation given by Ramesh Kumar and the instructions given by the high court in the contempt case on July 17, the Governor was directing the government for taking necessary action as per the directions of the court in its order dated May 29.
While there was no response from the Jagan government to the Governor’s orders till afternoon, an official in the CMO familiar with the development said the matter was referred to Advocate General Sriram Subrahmanyam for obtaining the legal position.
“In the communique, the Governor had nowhere asked the state government to reinstate Ramesh Kumar. It is not a direction to restore his position. He only asked the government to implement the verdict of the high court. Since the state government had challenged the high court’s order in the Supreme Court, he cannot be reinstated as SEC,” the official said.
The Jagan government had moved the Supreme Court again on Monday, seeking a stay on the high court taking up the contempt petition filed by Ramesh Kumar. It argued that the high court could not take up such a contempt petition at a time when the matter was pending before the apex court.
