In yet another shock to Andhra Pradesh state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, the state high court on Friday dismissed his orders, prohibiting state civil supplies minister Kodali Venkateshwara Rao alias Nani from speaking to the media.
A division bench of the high court led by Justice D V S S Somayajulu, which heard the arguments of both Kodali and Nimmagadda’s lawyers, ordered that the ministers could very much speak to the media and there are no restrictions.
However, the high court bench ruled that Kodali should not make any adverse comments against the SEC or Nimmagadda or the election process.
The counsel for the petitioner argued that SEC had the discretionary powers only in the conduct of the elections and he did not have powers to curtail the freedom of expression of an individual, especially a minister.
The counsel for Nimmagadda argued that a minister should respect the constitutional body like the SEC and should not make derogatory comments against the commissioner, since it would send a wrong message into the people that the SEC was ineffective.
