The Supreme Court on March 21, 2024, has given Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi overnight to take a call on reinstating DMK leader K. Ponmudy as a Minister. The apex court said it would pass a judgment on Friday on his conduct in the matter.
The Bench said Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi is “defying the Supreme Court of India” by claiming that appointing DMK leader K. Ponmudy as Higher Education Minister is against “constitutional morality”, despite a Supreme Court order suspending his conviction and sentence in a disproportionate assets case.
In a letter to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Mr. Ravi had said it was pertinent to note that the Supreme Court had suspended the conviction by way of interim relief to Mr. Ponmudy. It only meant that the conviction, though existent, had been made non-operative and not set aside, sources in the Raj Bhavan told The Hindu on March 17.
The Supreme Court had paved way for Mr. Ponmudy, who was convicted by Madras High Court in a corruption case, to return as a legislator by suspending the sentence and staying the conviction. Following this, the DMK government sought the Governor to swear-in Mr. Ponmudy as Higher Education Minister, a portfolio he was looking after prior to the conviction.
The State government argued that the Governor had stepped out of bounds to opine that Mr. Ponmudy was “tainted by corruption” and that his appointment would be against “constitutional morality”.
Its application contended that when the Supreme Court has suspended the conviction, a legal fiction is created that the earlier finding of guilt by a lower court against Mr. Ponmudy never existed in the eyes of law.
“The Governor is attempting to run a parallel government or dyarchy. The Governor is attempting to choose a Minister as per his subjective assessment of suitability, which is impermissible… The letter (of the Governor) has to be stayed and a direction issued to the Governor to appoint Mr. Ponmudy as a Minister of the Government of Tamil Nadu and to allot him the portfolios as per the letter of the Chief Minister on March 13 to prevent grave and irreparable harm and hardships,” the State’s application sought.
Tamil Nadu took the court back to a run-in between the Governor and the State over the pendency of 10 crucial Bills in 2023. The State had blamed the Governor for sitting on the Bills which had been cleared by the Legislative Assembly. Though the State had resent the Bills to the Governor for approval on November 18 last year, they were reserved by the latter for the consideration of the President.
