Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 29: In an unprecedented move, the Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on his own on Thursday dismissed arrested minister V Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers.
The Raj Bhavan said abusing his position as a Minister, Senthilbalaji has been influencing the investigation and obstructing the due process of law and justice. In an official release, Raj Bhavan said Balaji “is facing serious criminal proceedings in a number of cases of corruption, including taking cash for jobs and money laundering. Abusing his position as a minister, he has been influencing the investigation and obstructing the due process of law and justice.”
Currently, he is in judicial custody in a criminal case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. Balaji was arrested by the ED in connection with an alleged cash-for-jobs scam.
“There are reasonable apprehensions that continuation of V Senthil Balaji in the Council of Ministers will adversely impact the due process of law, including fair investigation that may eventually lead to breakdown of Constitutional machinery in the State,” the release said. Some more criminal cases against him under Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code are being investigated by the State Police, it added.
Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case on June 14, is in judicial custody till July 12, which is likely to be extended. He has been hospitalised after being arrested in an alleged cash-for-jobs case dating back to 2014 when he was the transport minister under the previous AIADMK government. He joined the DMK in 2018.
On the day Balaji was arrested, chief minister MK Stalin had sent a file to the governor informing him about the arrested minister’s portfolios to be re-allocated to two other ministers. But the governor returned the file, stating that the CM’s reasons were misleading and incorrect. Stalin is said to have called a meeting and sent another file to the governor, pressing him to accept the portfolio changes, which were accepted. Balaji was a minister without portfolio and those handled by him were re-allocated to his cabinet colleagues Thangam Thennarasu and S Muthusamy.
The arrested minister had undergone a bypass surgery in a private hospital in Chennai on June 21. The ED had opposed the shifting of Balaji to a private hospital. After the Madras high court allowed the DMK leader to do so, the probe agency had moved the Supreme Court. But the top court refused to stay the high court order.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said it will take up an Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea against the hospitalised minister, arrested over the alleged cash-for-job scam, after the Madras High Court heard the matter this week.
When he was arrested, Balaji complained of severe chest pain and was admitted to a government hospital, where doctors diagnosed the presence of “critical blocks”. He was then moved to the private Kauvery Hospital in accordance with a court order.
The former secretary general of Lok Sabha PDT Acharya said No Governor can dismiss an individual Minister from a State Cabinet unless recommended by the Chief Minister. According to Acharya, Article 164(1) of the Constitution says the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Ministers shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor.
The Supreme Court had on many occasions held that a government that enjoys a majority in the House cannot be dismissed by the Governor. Thus, if the government enjoys a majority in the House, the Governor cannot say that he withdraws his pleasure.
The Governor’s pleasure continues in the Constitutional sense as long as the government enjoys a majority in the House. Thus, the pleasure of the Governor is co-terminus with the majority in the House, he explained.