Supreme Court rejects plea to remove Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji from State Cabinet

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking removal of Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji from the State Cabinet [ML Ravi vs Principal Secretary to Governor, Government of Tamil Nadu and ors]..A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan orally remarked that a Governor needs the recommendation of the Chief Minister to dismiss a Minister and cannot act independently on the issue. It, therefore, refused to interfere with the judgment of the Madras High Court which had rejected the plea to remove the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) minister from the cabinet."We have perused the impugned judgment of the High Court and concur with the view taken. No interference is called for under Article 136," the bench stated while dismissing the plea..Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year in a money laundering case. He was accused of being involved in a cash for jobs scam during his tenure as Transport Minister in the AIADMK-led Tamil Nadu government between 2011 and 2015. He had later joined the DMK and became a minister in 2021. In September 2023, the Madras High Court observed that Balaji continuing in the State Cabinet as Minister without portfolio did not "augur well with the principles of Constitutional ethos on goodness, good governance and purity in administration."The High Court, therefore, "advised" Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to take a decision on whether Balaji should continue to be a State Minister despite his arrest and remand to judicial custody.The High Court also noted that it would be a matter of debate as to whether the Governor can unilaterally disqualify a person officiating as a minister, if such person has not incurred any disqualification under the Constitution or under any statute.The High Court, however, did not pass any directions for the removal of Balaji as a minister leading to the instant appeal before the Supreme Court. The plea filed by lawyer ML Ravi challenged Balaji’s continuance in the Cabinet despite him being in jail.