Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday sent a scathing reply to Governor R.N. Ravi’s order – later kept in abeyance -dismissing minister V. Senthil Balaji from the state cabinet.
The decision had been kept in abeyance by the Governor but the political high drama continued in the state.
In a letter to the Governor, Stalin, starting with a polite greeting, made scathing remarks on his decision to dismiss Senthil Balaji, saying his order needs outright disregard and accused him of acting in haste and showing the scantiest regard for the Constitution.
The Governor has no power to dismiss his minister and it is the prerogative of the elected CM, he stressed, adding that he enjoyed full support of the cabinet and they are the ultimate sovereign.
“Though your letters require only an outright disregard, I am writing to you to clarify both the facts and law on the issue at hand. The fact that within a few hours after you issued such a strongly worded first letter, even alluding to breakdown of constitutional machinery, a not so veiled threat, you withdrew it to seek the opinion of the Attorney General. This shows that you had not even taken a legal opinion before such an important decision,” Stalin wrote.
Stalin further stated that the constitutional bench of the apex court had left it to the wisdom of the Prime Minister and Chief Minister to decide whether a person should continue as their cabinet minister.
Therefore, merely because an investigation agency has commenced investigation against a person, he or she does not become legally incapacitated to continue as a minister, he noted.
In conclusion, he said: “Your unconstitutional communication dismissing my minister without my advice is void ab initio and non-est in law and hence has been disregarded.”
Ravi had dismissed Senthil Balaji, who is judicial custody after his arrest by the ED in an old cash for job scams, from the council of ministers on Thursday evening, leading to sharp attack from Stalin and the DMK who stated he had no such power to issue an order in this regard.
“Governor has no power to dismiss a minister. We will wage a legal battle against the move,” Stalin had said.
DMK cadres put up posters outside party headquarters in Chennai questioning the Ravi on Union Ministers who have several cases against them and still continue to hold their posts.
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