GO to appoint new SEC was issued without Guv's sign: Andhra Pradesh HC

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, which ordered the reinstation of Ramesh Kumar as the State Election Commissioner, pointed out that the government order to appoint retd HC Judge V Kanagaraj as Kumar's replacement was issued without the Governor's signature.

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh): As the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday ordered the reinstatement of N Ramesh Kumar as the State Election Commissioner (SEC), it also quashed the government order to appoint retired Madras HC Judge V. Kanagaraj as the new SEC.

The court found that the government order was issued with the approval of the Chief Secretary (Panchayat). The court also said the government did not have valid reasons to bring in an ordinance to replace Kumar as the SEC.

The court also observed that none of the Election Commissioners had so far worked above the age of 65 years. Referring to Kumar's replacement, Justice Kanagaraj, the court questioned how reasonable it was to appoint a 77-year-old man as the new SEC.

The court also said that the eligibility requirements for the SEC and the terms of appointment cannot be determined by an ordinance on the recommendation of the Cabinet of Ministers. Article 213 (1) of the Indian Constitution describes how the ordinance should be granted. However, the ordinance brought in by the Andhra Pradesh government did not conform to those regulations, the court said.

Read:Retd Judge Kanagaraj takes charge as new Andhra Pradesh SEC

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government had issued an ordinance on April 10 to sack Ramesh Kumar following a row over the postponement of local body elections.

Within hours of the sacking, the government had appointed Justice V. Kanagaraj (retd) as the new SEC.

The ordinance had brought down the term of SEC from five years to three years, thus abruptly ending the term of Ramesh Kumar who was appointed in 2016.

The ordinance had also changed the eligibility for SEC post. According to it, the Governor on state government recommendation shall appoint a person who has held an office of High Court judge as SEC.