SC says order in 2-3 weeks on HC quashing AP govt ordinance curtailing tenure of SEC

The Supreme Court Wednesday said it intends to dispose of in couple of weeks a batch of pleas, including one filed by Andhra Pradesh government, challenging the high court order which struck down an ordinance curtailing the tenure of the state poll panel chief from five to three years.

The Supreme Court Wednesday said it intends to dispose of in couple of weeks a batch of pleas, including one filed by Andhra Pradesh government, challenging the high court order which struck down an ordinance curtailing the tenure of the state poll panel chief from five to three years. A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices R Subhash Reddy and A S Bopanna said it would not pass any interim order and would dispose of the pleas in next two to three weeks. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Andhra Pradesh government, said that during the period governor may be requested to appoint an interim state election commissioner as election work in the state has been put on hold. The bench refused to pass any directions and posted the matter after three weeks. On June 10, the top court had refused to stay the order of the High Court striking down an ordinance promulgated by the Andhra Pradesh government curtailing the tenure of the state poll panel chief from five years to three. It had issued notices and sought response from the State Election Commission (SEC) and Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, who was restored as state poll panel chief. The top court had agreed to hear the plea of state government challenging the recent decision of Andhra Pradesh High Court striking down the ordinance and asked Kumar and others to file their response in two weeks.

It had said that there are some constitutional issues involved, which require hearing. The top court had said it was not satisfied that the motives of the state government were entirely innocent.

On May 29, the high court had struck down the Ordinance promulgated on April 10 by the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government, curtailing the tenure of the SEC from five to three years. It also quashed a Government Order appointing retired judge V Kanagaraj as the new chief and restored retired bureaucrat Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar as chief of the state poll panel. Justice V Kanagaraj, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, had assumed charge as the SEC on April 11, replacing Ramesh Kumar. The high court had delivered the judgment on a batch of writ petitions, including the one by Ramesh Kumar, challenging the Ordinance and the appointment of a new SEC. The YSR Congress government had on April 10 abruptly removed Ramesh Kumar from the post by promulgating the ordinance, amending the AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, curtailing the tenure of the SEC to three years from five.