New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea seeking a direction to the secretary of the President of India and others to immediately recall Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi from his office.
The matter came up before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar. The plea was filed by advocate C R Jaya Sukin.
During the hearing, the bench told Sukin, “we are already examining matters where certain bills have been passed….”.
Sukin, petitioner in-person, said the governor violated the Constitution. Declining to accept Jaya Sukin’s contention, the bench said, “he cannot….”. “Wherever we found there is an issue, we have issued notice and the matter is pending….this prayer (seeking direction recall the governor) which you have made is not possible. We cannot grant that. We are also bound by the Constitution…”, said the CJI, refusing to entertain the plea.
The plea argued that a catena of apex court judgments had held that the governor cannot enter the political arena and may discharge only those functions specified in the Constitution.
The plea said the governor must be aware of the constitutional limits of the power vested in him, and he cannot exercise a power that is not conferred on him by the Constitution or any law made under it.
The plea contended that the governor has consistently linked the Dravidian concept to an expired ideology that has created an ecosystem that fosters separatist sentiment and does not relish the idea of “One India”.
The petitioner said the Tamil Nadu governor has been criticizing the Tamil Nadu culture and humiliating Tamil Nadu people for following the Dravidian concept.
On January 6, the Tamil Nadu Governor walked out of the state Legislative Assembly immediately after the session commenced in protest against the national anthem not being played in the House.
