The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) polit bureau member and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Yanamala Ramakrishnudu has said that Ordinance 5/2020 was a blatant violation of the Constitution. The State government cannot draw a parallel between Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to defend its case, he remarked.
In a press release on Monday, he said that the issue was being falsely represented drawing a parallel between Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. In U.P., the government reduced the SEC tenure from seven to five years reversing an earlier government’s action. That was relating to ‘service conditions’ but not the issue of reduction in the ‘tenure’ like in A.P. Also, in U.P. it was not done in the midst of the elections like in the present case of Andhra Pradesh, he said.
The Governor should promulgate an ordinance only after he is satisfied that prevailing conditions warrant issuance of such an ordinance under Article 213. Given the present COVID-19 severity and its unchecked spread, the hasty amendment to cut short the SEC tenure to remove Ramesh Kumar was undemocratic and against the tenets of the Constitution. “As there is no urgency in this case. It is a fraud on the Constitution,” he alleged.
‘Can’t disadvantage him’
Article 243(k) says “it cannot be varied to his (SEC) disadvantage after his appointment”. Further, it is clear that as per settled law service means tenure or term. Again, the case, Lucknow HC judgement, was not applicable here. In Uttar Pradesh, one government increased the SEC’s tenure from five years to seven years. The successor government reduced it to five from seven. “To my knowledge, it was an extension of service but not reduction,” he added.
