Is Governor RN Ravi within power to sack V Senthil Balaji? What the Constitution says

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Tamil Nadu is witnessing a political row with Governor RN Ravi at the centre of it all. In late night developments, the governor first dismissed minister V Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers and then put the decision on hold.

Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) head and chief minister of the state MK Stalin said the Governor Ravi had “no power” to issue such an order and that his government would weigh legal options. “The Governor has no power to dismiss a minister… we will face this legally,” Stalin said.

Stalin, according to an Indian Express report, met with top DMK leaders and experts late on Thursday night. P Wilson, a senior lawyer and DMK MP, said to the newspaper that Ravi’s order is “null and void…a scrap of paper”. “It has no binding on the CM.”

As the standoff between the Governor and the government continues, we decode what happened on Thursday night and also explore if the Governor, in fact, has the power to dismiss a minister from the Cabinet.

Dismissed or not?

The entire issue began when Governor RN Ravi on Thursday night issued an order, dismissing V Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers, with immediate effect. For the unaware, Balaji was arrested two weeks ago and is in jail amid criminal proceedings in an alleged cash-for-jobs scandal dating back to 2014 when he was the transport minister under the previous AIADMK government.

The arrested minister had undergone a bypass surgery in a private hospital in Chennai on 21 June. This took place after the Enforcement Directorate had opposed shifting him to a private hospital. The Madras High Court allowed him to do so, a decision which was later upheld by the Supreme Court.

Initially, on Thursday night, Raj Bhawan said in an official release that 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.”

“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, PTI reported.

“Under these circumstances, the governor has dismissed Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers with immediate effect,” it added.

The order comes at a time when Chief Minister Stalin decided to retain him as a minister.

The initial dismissal, unsurprisingly, earned the governor the ire of the DMK government, with party members stating that he had no power to do so and additionally they would go to court on the matter.

DMK spokesperson Sarvanan was quoted as telling CNN-News18 the Governor has no legal authority to dismiss any minister. “He is undermining the Constitution, acting beyond authority. The Governor is a rubber stamp with no power,” he said, adding, “Who does the Governor thinks he is. ? Does he have the constitutional authority (to dismiss Senthil Balaji)? The Governor is undermining the Constitution. He is catering to the Sanatan Dharma. The law of the land isn't determined by the Sanatan Dharma. For a Governor, the Constitution should be the Bible, Gita, and Quran. He is acting like a clown, trying to appease his political masters. His order isn't even worth the paper it was drafted on. It must be consigned to the dustbin.”

M Appavu, Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, as per an Indian Express report said individuals occupying constitutional offices must uphold and abide by the constitution’s principles instead of being swayed by external directives. “The issuance of such an order by the Governor is tantamount to self-ridicule,” Appavu said. On the validity of the Governor’s order, he said, “It cannot be deemed constitutional nor is it obliged to be executed.”

Other opposition parties also criticised Governor Ravi – who shares difficult ties with the DMK – saying his action was ‘outrightly unconstitutional’.

Following the outrage and the possibility of legal action, different media reports, citing sources, said that the Governor had taken back his decision and would take a legal opinion from the attorney general on the matter.

According to the reports, Raj Bhawan’s previous order stands suspended till the legal opinion and Balaji will continue to be in the Cabinet. CNN-News18 reported that Governor Ravi’s decision to withdraw his previous order came on the advice from the Centre. Officials said the Governor was advised to take an opinion on the legality and constitutional position to avoid any potential embarrassment at the apex court.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has slammed Governor RN Ravi for his actions, saying his party, the DMK, was mulling legal action against him. File image/PTI

Governor right to sack Balaji?

While the DMK mulls its options and the Opposition attacks the Governor on his actions, the question still remains if Ravi was within his rights as governor to dismiss Balaji.

Article 164 (1) of the Constitution states that 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 during the pleasure of the Governor”.

However, Supreme Court rulings have interpreted that the power of the Governor primarily flows from the “aid and advice” of the Council of Ministers. For instance, In Shamsher Singh v State of Punjab, a 1974 ruling by a seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court said that a Governor must exercise “formal constitutional powers only upon, and in accordance with the aid and advice of their ministers, save in a few well-known exceptional situations”.

Going by this, Governor Ravi’s decision is unconstitutional. As the Deccan Chronicle stated: “It is for Mr Ravi alone to explain which constitutional provision empowers him to question the choice of a member of the council of ministers. As someone who has seen democratic governance in the states and at the Centre from close quarters, Mr Ravi must ask himself if he would agree to the President of India taking a similar stand with respect to the choice of ministers in the Union Council of ministers.”

Former Secretary General of Lok Sabha PDT Achary, who is also a constitutional law expert, said that without the advice of the chief minister, a Governor can neither appoint nor dismiss a minister.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court in February had cautioned against the Governor stepping in to settle political rivalry – in the matter related to the political crisis that had erupted in Mahashtra between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde.

The apex court had then said, “He (the Governor) cannot exercise a power that is not conferred on him by the Constitution or a law made under it. “They certainly do not empower the Governor to enter the political arena and play a role (however minute) either in inter-party disputes or intra-party disputes.”

Notably, this incident brings up memories of last year when Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, asking him to take “constitutionally appropriate action” against state Finance Minister K N Balagopal and cautioned against a possible “withdrawal of pleasure”. In response, Vijayan, at a press conference, said that the Governor‘s powers were “very limited” on the issue.

With inputs from agencies

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