The office of Andhra Pradesh state election commission (SEC) continues to be in the news for right or wrong reasons, ever since retired IAS officer Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar abruptly postponed the local body elections on the pretext of Coronavirus pandemic in March this year.
Latest news is that even the payment of house rent for the stay of retired Tamil Nadu high court judge Justice V Kanagaraj, who occupied the seat of SEC for a brief period of nearly four months, has run into controversy.
Kanagaraj was provided accommodation in a rented luxury flat in Landmark Pride Apartment near Benz Circle in Vijayawada at rent of Rs 1,11,800 per month.
The state panchayat raj department provided the necessary furniture and other facilities for his stay.
Kanagaraj occupied the flat on April 11 and continued in the same till recently, even after the state high court struck down his appointment as SEC and Supreme Court endorsed it. Finally, he was forced to vacate the flat and go back to his native place in Tamil Nadu.
But, the flat owner – Valluru Ravindranath – had not been paid even a single rupee as the house rent during the stay of Kanagaraj.
Apparently, the former SEC thought the rent would be paid by the panchayat raj department, while the department appears to be of the view that Kanagaraj himself might have paid the house rent as his salary package includes house rent allowance.
Since Kanagaraj was appointed by the government, the landlord did not pressure him for rent, hoping that the government would pay the rent.
But he was shocked on Wednesday, when the panchayat raj department officials tried to take away all the furniture and fittings in the house.
Ravindranath told the officials that they could take away the furniture and other material only after clearing his rent dues.
The officials lodged a complaint against him stating that he was obstructing the duty of the government servants.
Ravindranath clarified that he had no intention to stop the government authorities but he had only asked them to return his agreement papers along with the rent dues to the tune of Rs 6 lakh. He said he had no political links and that he was an ordinary person owning a flat.
He threatened to move the court if justice was not done. Having no option, the authorities left the flat without shifting the furniture.