Chennai: Puncturing holes in Governor RN Ravi's flawed reasoning for sacking Senthil Balaji from the Cabinet, which has been kept in abeyance, Chief Minister MK Stalin in a detailed letter sent to the Raj Bhavan on Friday made it clear that he had acted in haste with scant regard to the Constitution.
The missive is a point-by-point rebuttal to the Governor's late evening a five-page letter on Thursday, dismissing Balaji from the ministry, and the subsequent one keeping that decision in abeyance. At the very outset, Stalin says “Though your letter requires only an outright disregard, I am writing to you to clarify both the facts and the law on the issue on hand.”
Stating that the Governor's letter was 'strongly worded', the Chief Minister took exception to the allusion to the 'breakdown of constitutional machinery', a not-so-veiled threat. That “you withdrew it to seek the opinion of the Attorney General shows that you have not even taken a legal opinion before such an important decision. The fact that it needed the Home Minister's intervention to direct you to take legal opinion on the matter itself shows that you have acted in haste with scant regard to the Constitution of India,” he charged.
On Ravi practising double standards on the issue of corruption, the letter read, “You continue to maintain an inexplicable silence on my government's request for sanction to investigate/prosecute former ministers and public servants for offences committed during the previous AIADMK government, which have been languishing in your office for months together. Even the request of the CBI for sanction of prosecution in the Gutkha case has not been acted upon by you. In fact, these selective actions expose not only your unhealthy bias, but also the real intent behind such dual standards adopted by you.”
Only when a person is convicted by a court, disqualification comes into play, Stalin pointed out in defence of Balaji and cited the apex court ruling in the Lily Thomas case as well as other cases. Furthermore, accusing Ravi of stooping to levelling 'veiled unsubstantiated threats about the breakdown of constitutional machinery', the Chief Minister said it is the people, who are the 'ultimate sovereign' and that they are firmly behind the government.
In the case of Senthil Balaji, he has only been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for investigation, and not even a chargesheet has been filed against him, he added. Then, citing the Manoj Naurula case, he said “the Constitution Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India had left it to the wisdom of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister to decide whether a person should continue as a Minister or not in their Cabinet. Therefore, merely because an agency has commenced an investigation against a person, he or she does not become legally incapacitated to continue as a Minister.”
Reiterating that the Governor has no power to decide on who should or should not be part of the Cabinet, the letter drew attention to Article 164 (1) of the Constitution and said, the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers are only answerable to the elected Legislative Assembly under Article 164 (2). As such, “Your unconstitutional communication dismissing my Minister without my advice is void ab initio non-est in law and hence has been disregarded,” he concludes.
As for the Governor's charge of 'intemperate language', the missive read, “The Government of Tamil Nadu has always been according to due respect and regard to you and your office. We have always been pleasant, courteous and respectful towards you in line with our Tamil culture. However, that does not mean we have to abide by unconstitutional directives issued by you.”
