Advocate-General S. Sriram announced the State government’s decision to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court in the case pertaining to A.P. Panchayat Raj (Second Amendment) Act (No.5 of 2020), which was struck down by the High Court on Friday to the effect of restoration of N. Ramesh Kumar as the State Election Commissioner (SEC).
The legality of Mr. Ramesh Kumar’s appointment as the SEC was itself doubtful, Mr. Sriram stated.
The government sought the High Court’s permission to approach the Supreme Court and wanted the Friday’s verdict to be stayed till the matter was finally adjudicated by the apex court, he stated.
Addressing the media, along with Principal Secretary (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, on Saturday, Mr. Sriram said that Mr. Ramesh Kumar’s communication to the Commission that he was restored as the SEC was a declaration of self-restoration and it did not flow from the High Court judgment.
He pointed out that the State government had not yet notified Mr. Ramesh Kumar’s restoration as the SEC upon the striking down of the impugned ordinance and the consequential GOs by the High Court.
Since the HC did not give a time-frame for that, the government could take action thereof in two months in compliance with its order.
Mr. Sriram said, apart from claiming to be automatically restored as the SEC, Mr. Ramesh Kumar made a phone call to SEC standing counsel V.V. Prabhakar Rao on Saturday morning and instructed him to tender his resignation within a day by expressing his intention to infuse fresh blood in the Commission.
Mr. Ramesh Kumar wanted Mr. Prabhakar Rao to facilitate the appointment of a new person in his place by June 1, by putting in his papers as directed.
The A-G said Mr. Ramesh Kumar’s self-restoration as SEC was outside the conceivable mandate of law, and he could, therefore, not issue any direction to Mr. Prabhakar Rao in such a tearing hurry.
He further said since it had been ruled that the State had no power to appoint the SEC through the advice of the Cabinet, he was at loss to understand how could the State restore Mr. Ramesh Kumar to that post.
“As there are overarching constitutional issues involved in the matter, which also pertains to the HC judgment, we are knocking at the doors of the Supreme Court. While doing so, we will abide by all directions of the High Court, subject of course to our right to appeal. We don’t consider it (the HC judgment) as a victory or defeat,” Mr. Sriram asserted.
