AP High Court adjourns hearing on dismissal of SEC for next Monday

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the writ writing against government's decision to remove Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar as state election commissioner in Andhra Pradesh, through a special ordinance. A total of six petitions have been filed on the issue. All this was taken up by the High Court on Monday and directed the government to file a counter-affidavit by Thursday and adjourned the hearing to Monday.

It is known fact, Andhra Pradesh government has dismissed the state election commissioner Nirmagadda Ramesh Kumar through the ordinance. Ramesh Kumar has filed a writ petition in the high court challenging the government's decision. In his petition, Ranesh alleged that the GO pertaining to remove him as SEC was unconstitutional. The writ petition was filed by Lawyer Ashwani Kumar on behalf of Ramesh Kumar. Five more petitions were filed on the same matter.

The AP government last week decided to cut the state election commissioner's term from five years to three years. For that, the ordinance was passed on Friday, replacing section 200 of the appointment of the state election commissioner under the Panchayati Raj Act. Subsequently, on Friday night, the government has released GO No. 617 expelling Ramesh Kumar.

The government has appointed retired judge Kanagaraj as the new Election Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday who took the charge on Same day. Kanagaraj has served as a judge in the Madras High Court for 9 years. He has also served as a member of various commissions. Kanagaraj made sensational judgments on education, welfare of children, women. It remains to be seen how High Court would say in this backdrop.