Constitutional experts refuse to give TMC move to oust WB Guv any credence

Constitutional experts have rubbished the move by Trinamool Congress in connection with the party's decision to move President Ramnath Kovind, urging him to remove West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar from his post.

Kolkata: Constitutional experts have rubbished the move by Trinamool Congress in connection with the party's decision to move President Ramnath Kovind, urging him to remove West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar from his post.

The party has accused the Governor of transgressing constitutional limits by continuously commenting against the state government and administration and is creating a sense of mistrust against an elected government among the public.

“There is no provision under Article 156, Clause 1 of the Constitution to approach the President for removal of the Governor. Trinamool Congress is misinterpreting the Constitution. Under the Article, which deals with the term of office of the Governor, Clause 1 clearly says that the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President and there is no provision to suddenly withdraw that pleasure. So, the President can't just remove a Governor out of his will,” said Constitutional expert Amal Mukhopadhyay.

A team of Trinamool Congress MPs has sent a letter to the President, highlighting the transgressions of the Governor of West Bengal.

“We have seen that from his day of assuming office in July last year, he has been continuously addressing press conferences, issuing tweets and regularly passing comments on the functioning of an elected state government. The Chief Minister, senior bureaucrats, cabinet ministers and even the Speaker of the Assembly are being castigated by the Governor. We feel that these are gross violations of Constitutional rights,” Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy told reporters today.

READ: TMC urges President to remove Bengal governor

Another Constitutional expert Udayan Bandopadhyay also did not give much credence to what Roy had said, but was also critical about the way the Governor was conducting his office in West Bengal. The Governor has not been acting as a Constitutional head of the state and is making random comments, which does not suit the role of the Governor, said Bandopadhyay.

The letter to the President has been signed by five Trinamool Congress MPs of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Questioning the Governor's statement that he was trying to ensure free and fair polls in the state, Roy said, “Who is he to ensure polls? It is the domain of the Election Commission. He is only transgressing his limits.”

The opposition BJP has also rubbished the move of the Trinamool Congress MPs to remove the Governor from his post and said the Governor was performing his constitutional duty and is raising the right questions at the right time.