The tussle between the State government and N. Ramesh Kumar over the AP Panchayat Raj (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 reached the Supreme Court with the former filing a Special Leave Petition against the High Court (HC) judgment in the matter.
Mr. Ramesh Kumar, Madras High Court retired judge V. Kanagaraj who was appointed as SEC consequent on the promulgation of the ordinance, Principal Secretary (Panchayat Raj & Rural Development) and the State Election Commission Secretary are the respondents in the case before the apex court.
It may be noted that the HC delivered a landmark judgment against the ordinance which resulted in the termination of the services of Mr. Ramesh Kumar as SEC before his five-year term expired and the appointment of Mr. Kanagaraj in his place.
A major controversy erupted after Mr. Ramesh Kumar challenged the ordinance in the HC.
On May 29, HC Chief Justice J.K. Maheswari and Justice M. Satyanarayana Rao declared the impugned ordinance unconstitutional and that it was actuated by oblique reasons and on extraneous grounds without having any material for the Governor to be satisfied with the required circumstances.
The issue continued to simmer thereafter as Mr. Ramesh Kumar claimed to have resumed charge as the SEC in the wake of the HC giving its judgment in his favour.
Advocate-General S. Sriram raised serious objections to Mr. Ramesh Kumar's ‘self-restoration’ as the SEC, at a rare press conference where he had declared the government’s intention to approach the Supreme Court in view of the overriding public interest in the whole episode and certain overarching constitutional issues involved in it.