CHENNAI: In a serious setback to Governor RN Ravi’s attempts to stall the swearing in of senior DMK leader K Ponmudy as a State Cabinet Minister citing “constitutional morality”, the Supreme Court said it was seriously concerned about his conduct, going as far as saying the Governor was “defying the Supreme Court of India”.
The court then asked Governor Ravi to decide on Ponmudy’s re-induction into State Cabinet by Friday.
After the Governor rejected Chief Minister MK Stalin’s recommendation to swear in Ponmudy after his conviction in a disproportionate assets case was stayed by the Supreme Court, the State government mentioned the matter before a bench headed by the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, when the bench was hearing the matter, senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi referred to the apex court’s order staying the conviction, noting that it was not stayed it could lead to an irreversible situation.
Senior counsel and DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson added that Ponmudy’s MLA post was restored after the conviction was stayed and cited the recent example of Rajiv Gandhi’s MP post being restored.
When informed that the Governor was citing “constitutional morality” as the reason to reject the Chief Minister’s recommendation to re-induct Ponmudy into the State Cabinet, Justice JB Pardiwala said when the substantive order of conviction is stayed, there was no conviction. And after that there was no “blemish”, reported legal news portal LiveLaw.
When Attorney General R Venkataramani tried to counter Tamil Nadu government’s arguments, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the Supreme Court was seriously concerned about the conduct of the Governor. “We did not want to say it out loud in court but he is defying the Supreme Court of India,” he said according to LiveLaw.
The Governor seems not to have received proper advise on the legality of the matter, the CJI said, adding that he should be informed that “when the Supreme Court of India stays a conviction, it stays a conviction”.
“If we do not hear from your person tomorrow, we will pass an order directing the Governor to act according to the Constitution,” said Chief Justice Chandrachud.