Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi on Thursday dismissed minister V. Senthil Balaji from the cabinet, who was arrested in a money laundering case recently.
“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," a release from Raj Bhavan said. "Under these circumstances, the Governor has dismissed Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers with immediate effect,” it said.
Stating that Balaji is facing serious criminal proceedings in a number of cases of corruption, including taking cash for jobs and money laundering, the release added that Balaji had abused his position as a minister and has been “influencing the investigation and obstructing the due process of law and justice.”
The release from Raj Bhavan comes days after the state government, through an administrative order, allowed Senthil Balaji to continue as a minister without a portfolio after the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in job scam case. Governor earlier refused to allow Balaji to continue in the cabinet.
It may be recalled that a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Madras High Court against Senthil Balaji continuing as a minister in Stalin’s cabinet. The PIL was filed by Advocate M.L. Ravi of Desiya Makkal Shakthi Katchi. The Madras High Court bench comprising of Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu after hearing the plea challenging the continuation of Senthil Balaji in the cabinet, asked, “Under Article 226, how can the court pass an order when there are no specific orders by the governor.”
Apparently, Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a running feud between the governor and government, since Ravi took charge as the governor in 2021. Ravi has also been making public comments on the functioning of the government apart from organising programmes on behalf of the Raj Bhavan, meeting the vice-chancellors of various universities, speaking among the civil service aspirants, etc.
The governor had also earlier stirred various controversies when he said it would be appropriate to call Tamil Nadu as “Thamizhagam”; removing the Tamil Nadu government emblem from the Pongal invitations sent from the Raj Bhavan and his objection to the use of the term 'Ondriya arasu', meaning Union government, by the state government while referring to central government.
Chief Minister Stalin had earlier passed two resolutions in the assembly against the governor. In April this year, a resolution was passed in the assembly urging the union government and the president to prescribe a “specific time limit” for governors to give assent for bills. There are at least 14 bills, passed in the assembly, pending with the governor. On April 7, Ravi while addressing the civil service aspirants said that “if a governor withholds assent to a bill passed in the assembly it means the bill is dead.” On the same day, Stalin while speaking in the house raised objections to Ravi’s explanation for withholding the bills and said that “the governor is repeatedly functioning in a manner contrary to his oath of office and detrimental to the welfare of the state.”
In January this year, Stalin moved a resolution in the house against Ravi, when he omitted certain portions of the prepared text of the governor’s customary address to the house. As Stalin was reading the resolution against the governor, Ravi walked out from the assembly in a huff.