Did T.N. CM make specific request to Governor to allow arrested Minister Senthilbalaji to continue in Cabinet, asks Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on Monday wanted to know whether Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had written to Governor R.N. Ravi making a specific request to allow Minister V. Senthilbalaji to continue in the Cabinet despite his having been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case on June 14.

The Madras High Court on Monday wanted to know whether Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had written to Governor R.N. Ravi making a specific request to allow Minister V. Senthilbalaji to continue in the Cabinet despite his having been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case on June 14.

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Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu granted time, until the afternoon of Monday, June 26, 2023, for the counsel representing the petitioners, to produce a letter, if any, written by the CM to the Governor with this specific request. One of these is a writ petitioner, M.L. Ravi of the Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi, and another litigant is S. Ramachandran of Kolathur in Chennai who had questioned Minister Senthilbalaji’s continuation in the Cabinet, despite his being in judicial custody.

When the two cases were taken up for hearing together, one the petitioner’s counsel relied upon Article 164 of the Constitution and contended that the Ministers could continue in office only during the pleasure of the Governor and in the present case, Mr. Ravi had explicitly expressed his dissent over the continuation of the arrested Minister.

However, the Chief Justice told the counsel that the Governor had appointed the Minister on the advice of the Chief Minister as required under Article 164(1) of the Constitution and wanted to know whether there was any provision which empowers the Governor to dismiss a Minister and whether any such order had been passed.

On being told that the Raj Bhavan had issued a press release indicating that the Governor was not in favour of the continuation of Mr. Senthilbalaji in the Cabinet, the CJ said: “There is a distinction between not agreeing with his continuation in the Cabinet and passing a positive order against his continuation. We want to know whether any such order has been passed.”

When the petitioner’s counsel said, after the arrest of Mr. Senthilbalaji, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had written to the Governor to reallocate the portfolios held by the arrested Minister to two other Ministers, the Chief Justice asked whether the Chief Minister had made any specific request to the Governor to allow Mr. Senthilbalaji to continue in the Cabinet.