Justice V Kanagaraj, retired judge of Madras High Court, appointed as new state election commissioner of Andhra Pradesh

In a swift development that caught everyone by surprise, the Andhra Pradesh government has appointed a retired Madras High Court judge, Justice V. Kanagaraj, as the State Election Commissioner (SEC) in the place of N. Ramesh Kumar, whom it had expelled through an overnight ordinance.

Justice Kanagaraj served as the Madras High Court judge for nine years and had several landmark judgements to his credit, particularly in cases related to the education sector and women and children's safety.

He graduated from the Madras Law College in 1972 and started practising as a member of the Salem Bar Association in 1973. He had the distinction of sitting in the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC, which is the only Bench created after 57 years of independence in the country, on its inaugural day.