Supreme Court refuses to stay AP High Court’s order to reinstate Ramesh Kumar as SEC

The Andhra Pradesh Government had moved the Supreme Court in the SEC case concerning officer Ramesh Kumar earlier this month. In the latest, the top court refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order on Wednesday. The High Court had order struck down an ordinance by the Andhra Pradesh State Government which cut short the State Election Commissioner’s tenure in office from five years to three. In its latest orders pertaining to the case, the Supreme Court sought a response from Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar and the State Election Commission. The orders were given by a Supreme Court division bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde. Notices were issued to respondents and a deadline of two weeks was set for the above mentioned parties to respond.

Case Details:

The row started on 29 May this year when the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down an ordinance that abruptly ended Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar’s term in office as the State Election Commissioner. The state government’s ordinance further stated that the Governor of Andhra Pradesh must appoint a former High Court judge in the position, after taking a recommendation from the government officials. As per the ordinance, Mr V Kanagaraj, former Judge at Madras High Court was entrusted the responsibility of the new State Election Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh.

The AP High Court’s order in May deemed that Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar must be reinstated into his previous position as the SEC, while replying to 13 petitions, one of which was filed by Mr. Ramesh Kumar himself. The decision was praised by actor and JanaSena Party Chief Pawan Kalyan for “breathing life into democracy in Andhra Pradesh.” He said that the order strengthened people’s faith in a democratic process.

The State Government’s ordinance that was struck down by the AP High Court came in after N Ramesh Kumar stalled the local body elections in Andhra Pradesh due to the coronavirus scare back in March 2020 as a precautionary measure. The Supreme Court upheld the SEC’s decision to postpone the elections to a later date.