The DMK has urged the President to recall Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi for refusing to re-induct former Minister K. Ponmudy into the State Cabinet. The party said the Governor had no regard for the Constitution, for the laws, for the orders of the Supreme Court and hence needed to be “sacked” forthwith. It said the Governor’s interpretation of the apex court order was absurd, and was an affront to the order.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had written to Mr. Ravi seeking the administering of the oath of office to Mr Ponmudy. Mr. Ponmudy, former Higher Education Minister was disqualified as an MLA after the Madras High Court sentenced him to three years in jail in a disproportionate assets case in December last year. The Supreme Court stayed his conviction and sentence on Monday, March 11, 2024.
In a social media post, DMK Rajya Sabha MP P. Wilson, wrote about the Governor refusing to appoint DMK leader K. Ponmudy as a Minister, despite his being reinstated as a legislator in the light of the Supreme Court’s interim injunction. The Governor’s refusal to accede to the CM’s request amounted to “subversion of the rule of law” and violation of Article 164 (1) of the Constitution, Mr. Wilson contended. This was a “clear act of contempt of Court since the Court suspended the conviction for the sole reason that it should not operate as a disqualification.”
