The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed plea seeking removal of Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji from the state cabinet saying the Governor needs the consent of the chief minister to dismiss a minister from his post and cannot act independently in such matters.
The bench orally observed that a Minister cannot be dismissed by the Governor without the recommendation of the Chief Minister.
In his plea filed before the Madras High Court, the petitioner, advocate ML Ravi, questioned the propriety of Senthil Balaji continuing in the cabinet even after he was sent to judicial custody in a case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The litigant contended that as per Article 164 of the Constitution, ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor as he asked how could the Tamil Nadu government go against the will of the Governor and allow a person in judicial custody to continue as a minister?
In its order passed in September 2023, a bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu of the High Court had said that continuance of Balaji as a Minister without Portfolio serves no purpose and does not augur well with the Principles of Constitutional ethos on goodness, good governance and purity in administration.
“The Chief Minister of the State of Tamil Nadu may be well advised to take a decision about the continuance of V.Senthil Balaji (who is in judicial custody) as a Minister without Portfolio," it had said.
In an unprecedented action, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi in June last year dismissed Balaji from the state Council of Ministers. However, hours after the Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan issued a press statement on the dismissal of Balaji, it issued another one stating that the decision to dismiss the minister was kept in abeyance.
The anti-money laundering agency, which had arrested Balaji on June 14 last year, contended that retention of the accused as a minister in the state cabinet without any portfolio clearly indicates that he is highly influential.
Before his arrest by the ED, Balaji was in charge of Power and Excise Departments in the Tamil Nadu government.
On Thursday, a sessions court extended Balaji's remand till January 11. The DMK leader, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on June 14, 2023 in a money laundering case, is presently lodged at the Puzhal prison.
Principal Sessions Judge S Alli, before whom Balaji was produced by the prosecution through video-conferencing from the prison, extended his judicial custody.
Balaji was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to a cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport Minister during an earlier AIADMK regime.
Soon after his arrest, he underwent a bypass surgery at a private hospital.
Later, the ED took him into custody for interrogation and following that he was remanded in judicial custody. His remand was periodically extended by the court.
With inputs from PTI, IANS
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