Panchayat Raj Department Principal Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi filed a counter in the High Court on Saturday stating the government’s position on the reduction of the tenure of the State Election Commissioner (SEC).
It was in response to a batch of petitions that questioned the propriety of the ordinance which curtailed the tenure of the SEC from five to three years. N. Ramesh Kumar who ceased to be the SEC consequent upon the issuance of the ordinance, is the main petitioner.
The petitions are scheduled to be heard on Monday (April 20).
Mr. Dwivedi stated that the Governor had the discretionary power to alter the term of the SEC and denied that the ordinance was targeted at Mr. Ramesh Kumar.
He maintained that Mr. Ramesh Kumar did not consult the government before reaching the conclusion that postponement of elections purportedly due to the COVID scare, was in the best interests of the State.
