Petition filed in MHC to quash Guv's letter suspending removal of Balaji from Cabinet

CHENNAI: A petition was filed in the Madras High Court seeking to quash the letter issued by the Tamil Nadu Governor to keep in abeyance the dismissal order of Minister V Senthilbalaji from the cabinet.

Petitioner ML Ravi, the President of Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi said that the Governor cannot stay an order once issued, in his petition. The Governor cannot revert his own order by himself without any Judicial intervention, only by a Judicial review it can be done, read the petition.

If the Governor has performed a function or discharged a duty allocated to him and has no further status in the matter, he is Functus Officio, said the petitioner.

The Governor of Tamil Nadu becomes Functus Officio, once ordered of dismissal the minister cannot revive or revoke or reconsider, read the petition.

In a federal setup as in India and as per the constitution of India he need not consult or cannot take a decision and come to a conclusion based upon Union Home Ministry, said the petitioner.

A larger question involved whether a person under judicial custody or in jail who cannot exercise his franchise to vote as per Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, can a person in jail or judicial custody can be a Minister, who cannot even perform his collective responsibility as a legislator, read the petition.

On June 29, 2023, the Governor of Tamil Nadu issued a letter dismissing Senthilbalaji from the Council of Ministers by using the powers conferred under articles 154, 163, and 164 of the constitution of India.

However, on the same day, the Governor issued another letter saying that he kept the order in abeyance the dismissal of Senthilbalaji from the Cabinet for seeking an opinion from the attorney general of India, as per the advice of the Home Minister of India, the petitioner stated.