Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Government abruptly removed State Election Commissioner N. Ramesh Kumar from the post by promulgating an ordinance, amending the AP Panchayat Raj Act- 1994.

Through this ordinance the Government curtailing the tenure of the SEC to three years from five, the Government on Friday brought an ordinance, in pursuance of promulgation of ordinance 5 of 2020, Dr. N. Ramesh Kumar, IAS (Retd.), the incumbent SEC ceases to hold the office of SEC on and with effect from 10^th April, 2020. The Panchayat Raj & Rural Development Principal Secretary Gopala Krishna Dwivedi said in an order the above information.

 

The amendment issued through a Confidential G.O has paved the way for the indirect removal of Ramesh Kumar as the Government had reduced the SEC’s tenure from five years to three years. The Government also brought a new provision in the PR Act saying that the State Election Commission should be headed by person holding a rank equivalent to that of a High Court Judge. The State Government issued three Confidential G.Os, one from Law Department and two from Panchayat Raj Department.

According to the official sources the Law Department issued G.O 31 notifying the ordinance it was given assent by Governor Bishwabhusan Harichandan. The two other Confidential G.Os 617 and 618 by PR Department have been issued notifying amendments to section 200 of AP Panchayat Raj Act 1994.