Chennai: Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has refused to accede to Chief Minister M K Stalin's request to re-appoint senior DMK leader and legislator K Ponmudy as a state minister, drawing sharp reaction from the ruling party which said the move was violative of the Constitution and that Ravi was unfit to hold the post.
Stalin had written to Ravi on March 13, recommending the re-induction of Ponmudy in the cabinet after the minister's conviction in an assets case by the Madras High Court was suspended by the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a plea of the Tamil Nadu government against the refusal of Governor Ravi to appoint Ponmudy as a minister in the state cabinet. DMK Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate P Wilson said the Governor is proving to be a "repeat offender and is acting with scant regard to the Constitution."
The Tamil Nadu Assembly officially declared that the disqualification ceased to operate and the Election Commission withdrew notification on vacancy of Ponmudy's constituency Tirukoyilur. However, Governor Ravi has given his own interpretation of the Supreme Court's order stating that the conviction has only been suspended, not set aside. This is an absurd interpretation and is an affront to the Supreme Court's order, Wilson said.
"When he has stooped to the levels of wilfully violating orders of the Supreme Court, desecrating the Constitutional provisions, and ignoring the rule of law, he is not fit to hold the post any longer," the senior advocate said in a post on X. When the conviction order of the High Court is "suspended" by the apex court, it means that the order is non-existent in the eyes of law. "This interpretation accorded by the Governor cannot be a mere ignorance of law but wilful and wanton violation of the order of the SC for which the Governor must be prosecuted for contempt," Wilson said.
The Governor is bound by the orders of the Supreme Court under Article 142 and 144 (enforcement of Supreme Court's orders) of the Constitution. Further, his blatant refusal to accede to Chief Minister's request to appoint Ponmdefudy as the Higher Education Minister "amounts to subversion of the rule of law and violation of Article 164(1) (appointment of Ministers, Chief Minister) of the Constitution." The Governor's action is a clear act of contempt of Court since the Court suspended the conviction for the sole reason that it should not operate as a disqualification.
It is now well settled that a Governor cannot decide on who should be a Minister on moral grounds or any other grounds. "That sole prerogative is with the Chief Minister." The Governor's confrontation with the Government is unsurprising since he is acting as the "defacto President of the TN's BJP unit" and has a proclivity to seek media attention, but by his current action he has committed gross constitutional impropriety and contempt of court, the Rajya Sabha MP added. He called for the recall of Ravi by the President.
