The Supreme Court directions to the YSRCP government to follow the high court directions on the reinstatement of retired IAS officer Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar as the state election commissioner have made the three-month long episode more and more interesting.
Since the Governor has issued directions to the government to follow the high court orders and the Supreme Court refusing to grant the stay on the high court directions on the contempt petition filed by Nimmagadda, everybody has come to the conclusion that the Jagan government has no option but to reappoint him as the SEC.
But sources said the chief minister has decided to fight the battle till the end and drag it as long as he can, since he doesn’t want Nimmagadda to be reinstated as the SEC under any circumstances.
According to these sources, the Jagan government is planning to rope in Justice V Kanagaraj, who was appointed as the SEC in place of Nimmagadda, through an ordinance, followed by a government order, to implead in the matter.
Though the high court has struck down the ordinance, the state government is still continuing Kanagaraj as the SEC on the pretext that it had challenged the HC order in the Supreme Court. Though the SC refused to grant the stay, the case is still on in the apex court.
“There are no specific directions from the Supreme Court as to what should be done with Kanagaraj, though it upheld the high court judgement on striking down of the ordinance,” sources said.
So, Kanagaraj will now move the Supreme Court because he was also appointed by the Governor who, had till now, not cancelled his appointment.
“Since Nimmagadda cannot be reinstated till Kanagaraj is sacked, the latter wants to seek the legal remedy,” sources said.
So, the case is going to drag for a few more weeks, as Kanagaraj would seek time to file his affidavit!
