The Andhra Pradesh high court on Thursday expressed strong displeasure with the state legislative council chairman Koyye Moshen Raju for failing to take timely action on the resignation submitted by MLC Jayamangala Venkataramana, who resigned from the YSR Congress party.
The court observed that the chairman had unreasonably delayed the decision despite being the competent authority to examine and certify the resignation.
Hearing a petition challenging the prolonged inaction, the court directed the chairman to conduct a hearing on the resignation letter and communicate his decision within four weeks.
The high court noted that constitutional positions must not be used to stall or manipulate procedural outcomes and criticised the chairman for letting the matter remain pending for an extended period without justification.
Jayamangala Venkataramana, who was elected as an MLC on behalf of YSRCP, resigned from his post and submitted his resignation letter to the Chairman on November 23 last year due to personal reasons.
Earlier, Venkataraman filed a petition in the high court in August, seeking an order to issue appropriate orders to the council chairman on accepting his resignation.
The petition stated that even after more than nine months, the chairman has not rejected or accepted it till now.
In September, the high court imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on the council chairman for failing to file a counter affidavit as directed on Jayamangala’s petition asking for acceptance of his resignation.
The chairman’s counsel sought more time, following which the court imposed the fine on the council. Yet, even after two months, the council chairman did not take any action, which angered the court.
