State election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar has once again knocked the doors of the High Court.
On Wednesday, Ramesh Kumar filed a petition in the High Court stating that the Andhra Pradesh government led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has not been releasing funds to the state election commission.
In his plea, Ramesh Kumar noted that the state government has put on hold the release of funds necessary for the functioning of the state election commission and appealed to the High Court to order the Andhra Pradesh government to immediately release the funds.
Further, Ramesh Kumar contended that stopping release of funds to the election commission is violative of Article 43 of the Constitution. Ramesh Kumar made principal secretaries of finance and Panchayat Raj as respondents.
Hearing the petition, the High Court asked the election commission to file an affidavit giving detailed information on the problems faced by the election commission. Further, the High Court observed that the Election Commission is a constitutional body which is entitled to get funds from the government.
Immediately after Ramesh Kumar filed the petition in the High Court, the Andhra Pradesh government has released Rs 39 lakh funds to the state election commission.
In an act of political vendetta, Ramesh Kumar was removed as SEC after he put off elections to the civic body. In a tearing hurry, the state government had appointed retired Tamil Nadu judge 76-year-old Kanagaraju as SEC. The move was challenged by Ramesh Kumar in the High Court.
At least 13 petitioners questioned the sanctity of the ordinance to remove Ramesh Kumar as SEC. On May 29, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had struck down the state government’s Ordinance reducing the tenure of the SEC from five years to three years.
Hearing the petition, the High Court had ordered the Andhra Pradesh government to reinstate Ramesh Kumar SEC. However, the Jagan government was not in mood to reinstate him back as SEC and filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the High Court order to reinstate Ramesh Kumar as SEC.
The retired IAS officer was reinstated as SEC after a prolonged and bitter legal battle with the Jagan Reddy government. At times, he even received personal threats to himself and his family from the ruling party sympathisers. It also forced him to approach the Central Government to get security from the Central forces.
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