Quo Warranto petition filed in AP High Court against SEC N Ramesh Kumar's appointment

Yet another petition was filed in the High Court challenging the appointment of Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar after the High Court recently ruled that the appointment of the Commissioner of Elections of Andhra Pradesh (SEC) could not be done on the recommendation of the State Council of Ministers. The petition was filed in the form of a warrant by Sangam Srikanth Reddy of Uppalapadu village in Guntur district, seeking to overturn GO 11 issued by the then government in 2016 by appointing Nimmagadda as Election Commissioner.

In the wake of the HC verdict, the petitioner appealed the High Court to seek explanation as to what authority he is holding as Election Commissioner. He also said that Section 200 (2) of the AP Panchayati Raj Act, which requires the Governor to appoint an officer who is not below the rank of Chief Secretary to the State Election Commissioner, is unconstitutional and urges the court to abolish it.

He also asked the High Court to issue restrictions on Nimmagadda from performing his duties as state election commissioner.

The petition filed by government over former SEC N Ramesh Kumar's case is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy will hear the case. The case is scheduled to be heard by video conference. The Supreme Court has accepted the Special Leave Petition filed by AP government, which has approached the Supreme Court challenging the ruling of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.