Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has decided to put on hold the dismissal order of state minister V Senthil Balaji for the time being, after he was advised by the Union home ministry to seek the advice of the attorney-general before going ahead with implementing his order. The governor had earlier issued the dismissal order without consulting the chief minister in a rare move.
The governor was advised by the Union home ministry to put the order in abeyance and seek a legal opinion of the attorney general about the move.
Stalin will write a detailed letter to Ravi on the matter. Earlier, Tamil Nadu CM went into a huddle Law Minister S Regupathy, DMK Rajya Sabha MP and Senior advocate NR Elango and state Advocate General R Shunmagasundhram and a few others at Tamil Nadu Secretariat.
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Stating that the Tamil Nadu government was "disregarding" the Governor's action of sacking Balaji, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said Stalin will write a detailed letter to Ravi on the matter.
Can a governor dismiss a minister?
The Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan issued a press release on Thursday evening communicating the dismissal of jailed minister V Senthil Balaji from the state cabinet, citing "serious criminal proceedings in a number of cases of corruption."
"There are reasonable apprehensions that the continuation of V Senthil Balaji in the Council of Ministers will adversely impact the due process of law, including fair investigation that may eventually lead to the breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state," the press release said.
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The Governor had reportedly not consulted the chief minister before issuing the dismissal order, further exacberating the standoff between the MK Stalin government and the governor, along with raising questions on the constitutional validity of the move.
The dismissal comes days after the Madras High Court asked petitioners opposing the State government’s decision to let V Senthil Balaji continue as a minister despite his arrest, if there existed any legal provision that enabled the Governor to dismiss a state minister.
The High Court said that the Governor had appointed the minister on the advice of the Chief Minister as required under Article 164(1) of the Constitution. While the Governor was free to make recommendations, does any specific legal provision exist under Article 164 that enabled the Governor “to dismiss a minister?” the Court asked, according to a report by Bar and Bench.
Reactions to the dismissal
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin lashed out at the Governor, saying that he would take the legal route to face the issue. "The Governor does not have the powers to dismiss him (Senthil Balaji). We will face this legally," he said.
DMK leader A Saravanan said that the Governor was undermining the constitution. "Who is the Governor to dismiss Senthil Balaji? Does he have the constitutional authority? The Governor is undermining the constitution. He is acting as per Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma is not the law of this country. For Governor's reference, our Constitution is our Bible, Gita, Quran...He is acting in a clownish way probably to appease his political masters...The purported order of the Governor will not even have the value of the paper in which it is done. It has to be consigned to the dustbin..." he said.
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The move comes amid an ongoing standoff between the DMK government and governor, mainly over the latter's refusal to assent to legislation passed by the state assembly. To that effect, the DMK had issued a petition to President Droupadi Murmu last year over what they alleged as "unconstitutional" conduct of Governor RN Ravi and his failure to give assent to bills passed by the Assembly.
