Supreme Court’s Fresh Shock To Jagan Govt!

In yet another shock to AP state government, the Supreme Court has ordered the YS Jagan-led state government to apply to the State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar for permission over development works.

Responding to a petition filed by AP state government seeking amendments over the ‘directions’ passed by the Election Commission in the wake of the AP local body elections, Chief Justice SA Bobde asked AP government, “Has the Election Commission stopped any development work in the state?” He directed the state government to first apply to the EC for permission over development works. The Supreme Court said that the AP government should file a petition in the Supreme Court only if permission is denied by the State Election Commissioner. The SC told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who is representing the AP government.

On the other hand, the advocate appearing for the Election Commission informed the Apex court that the Local Body elections are only “postponed” but not “cancelled”. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing for four weeks.

In the wake of ongoing war between AP government and SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, the above comments of the Supreme Court are seen as a setback. Now, the government needs to apply permission from the SEC over implementing the development works in the state.

It can be noted that the SEC had earlier postponed the local body elections in the state owing to Covid-19 outbreak. This led to a huge war between CM Jagan and the SEC. Now, the EC is all set to hold the local body election in the state and recently filed a petition in AP High Court that the state government is “not cooperating” to the EC to conduct polls.