Can a governor exercise his ‘discretion’ to dismiss a minister without consulting the chief minister?
Published on: 8 July 2023, 01:35 pm
The governor of Tamil Nadu, R.N. Ravi has taken an unprecedented decision to dismiss a minister of the council of ministers without taking any aid and advice from the chief minister of Tamil Nadu or other council of ministers for that matter. Is this in line with the Constitutional provisions and the decisions set-out by the Supreme Court in various similar judgments?
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THE unprecedented decision of the governor of Tamil Nadu to dismiss V. Senthil Balaji from the council of ministers without having any form of consultation with the chief minister, M.K. Stalin, or his cabinet, has received a fair amount of criticism from different quarters.
Even the Union home minister, Amit Shah, had to step in and advise the governor to first obtain an opinion from the Attorney General for India (AGI).
Now, Governor Ravi has, in another unprecedented move, put his decision in abeyance pending the opinion of the AGI.
The legal question that looms large is: Whether a governor can dismiss a minister without the aid and advice of the council of ministers headed by the chief minister?
Reasons recorded by Governor Ravi to dismiss Balaji
On June 29, Governor R.N. Ravi, in a demi-official (DO) letter to Chief Minister Stalin informed the latter that he had dismissed Balaji from the council of ministers with immediate effect.
The governor relied heavily on the scathing observations made by the Supreme Court in its two Orders dated September 8, 2022, and May 16, 2023 respectively, against Balaji while the court was hearing appeals concerning the investigation into the cash-for-job scam.
The observations, inter alia, pertained to the conduct of the investigation officer who did not include offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Balaji.