Chennai: In an unprecedented move, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Thursday sacked Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers on the ground that his continuation in office has become an untenable consequence of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). However, with Chief Minister MK Stalin standing firm in his opposition to the Governor's act, this could lead to a constitutional deadlock.
The late evening Raj Bhavan press note which confirmed that the Governor has dismissed the embattled minister is, however, silent on the constitutional provisions under which he has taken this decision. While levelling charges such as influencing the investigation and obstruction of due process of law, it is conspicuous that it has failed to mention the relevant statutes granting the power for this exercise.
“Abusing his position as a Minister, he has been influencing the investigation and obstructing the due process of law and justice...There are reasonable apprehensions that continuation of Thiru V Senthil Balaji in the Council of Ministers will adversely impact the due process of law, including a fair investigation that may eventually lead to a breakdown of the Constitutional machinery in the State,” reads the press note. Interestingly, Governor Ravi sacking of Balaji comes after his recent visit to the national capital and his holding out the threat of a possible breakdown of 'Constitutional machinery' has not been missed by political analysts.
This unusual and unexpected development has taken the DMK establishment by surprise, turning the bitter war between the elected government of Stalin and the Raj Bhavan has turned more acrimonious than ever. “He has no power to do this. We will challenge this legally,” was the reaction of Stalin. DMK leaders including Assembly Speaker Appavu echoed the same. “It is the Chief Minister's prerogative. The Governor should not attempt to encroach on it and function as per the constitution,” said Appavu. “It is a waste paper, without any sanctity,” was the reaction of the party's legal eagle, P Wilson, Rajya Sabha MP.
Following the arrest of Balaji by the ED and his subsequent hospitalisation, Stalin reallocated the departments held by him to two other cabinet colleagues and retained him as a Minister without a portfolio. Then also, the Governor expressed his dissent over Balaji's continuation in the ministry. Even earlier in the last week of this May, he had written to the Chief Minister seeking Balaji's removal, which Stalin had turned down.
Now also, the Chief Minister is firmly behind his embattled cabinet colleague, who is recuperating at a private hospital where he had undergone heart surgery. And the Principal Sessions Court had extended his judicial custody for another 15 days. Madras High Court has reserved orders on the Habeas Corpus Writ filed by Balaji's wife, Megala contending that the arrest by the ED was illegal. The case in which he had been arrested pertains to the cash-for-job scam when he was Transport Minister in the then Jayalalithaa government.
However, whether Balaji remains a minister or not remains a question. While some analysts maintain that he continues to be so, others differ on this. According to the latter, it happens to be a grey area since the issue will go to the court as the Chief Minister had said, and till a stay is secured, Balaji's fate is unknown.
