Close on the heels of former Andhra Pradesh state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar and former state legislative council chairman Md Ahmed Sharif, yet another constitutional authority appointed during the Chandrababu Naidu regime has dragged the Jagan Mohan Reddy government into a legal wrangle.
Udaya Bhaskar on Tuesday filed an affidavit in the state high court as a respondent in the legal tussle between some Group-1 aspirants and the APPSC over digital evaluation of Group-1 main examination papers.
He said he was not party to the decisions taken by APPSC since January 2020 and all decisions taken without the approval of the chairman are illegal.
He brought to the notice of the court that all administrative work is being done without the approval of the chairman even though he is regularly attending the office.
“I was not invited to any official meeting since January 2020, in complete violation of rules of procedure. I neither headed a meeting nor authorised any member to head meetings since February 2020. Despite being the chairman, I was bypassed in appointing examiners for the Group-1 examination held from December 14-20 last year,” Udaya Bhaskar said.
He pointed out that any amendments to rules of procedure have to be made by the full commission headed by the chairman and the same has to be issued as a GO and notified by the governor in the official gazette.
“In the present case, no procedure was followed and hence amendments to the rules of procedure brought in by the state government lack legal sanctity,” he said.
Soon after assuming power in May 2019, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government has been targeting Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission chairman P Udaya Bhaskar, who was appointed by the previous TDP government.
But since APPSC chairman is a constitutional position, he could not be sacked just like that. So, the Jagan government has started ignoring his presence and got the works done through APPSC secretary P Sita Ramanjaneyulu.
Udaya Bhaskar said not a single official had been cooperating with him in the last two years.
He told the court that he was obstructed from discharging his duties, despite the court orders.
“I have been denied facilities which I am entitled to as the APPSC chairman. I was denied even an attender and ‘peshi’ staff,” he lamented.
Udaya Bhaskar had earlier lodged a complaint with Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan, but there was no use. Now that there is a litigation in the court, he used the opportunity to corner the Jagan government.
It remains to be seen how the high court will respond to his complaint.