The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday quashed an Ordinance promulgated on April 10 which curtailed the tenure of the State Election Commissioner from five to three years.
The court also quashed the government order appointing retired judge V Kanagaraj as the new State Election Commissioner.
As of now, retired bureaucrat Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar has been restored as the SEC.
Justice VKanagaraj, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, had been appointed as the SEC on April 11, replacing Ramesh Kumar.
The High Court delivered the judgment in a batch of writ petitions, including the one by the aggrieved Ramesh Kumar who had challenges the ordinance and the appointment of a new State Election Commissioner.
The court held that the state government did not have the authority to curtail the tenure of the SEC. It also set aside the appointment of the new SEC.
Senior advocate Jandhyala Ravi Shankar had appeared on behalf of one of the petitioners.
