KOCHI: Having stepped down from the Cabinet on Wednesday, Thomas Chandy had pinned his last hopes on the copy of the High Court judgment on his petition against the Alappuzha Collector’s report. Those hopes were dashed on Thursday as the order contained no favourable remarks for Chandy, as claimed by him to cling to his ministership.While supplementing the views of the senior judge of the Division Bench, Justice Devan Ramachandran observed the petition by Chandy was a challenge by a Minister against the action ordered against him by another Minister of the same Cabinet of Ministers.
“It is certain that when a person acts as a Minister, he acts as a constituent of the Cabinet and that he cannot act against it or, in any manner, against the interest of the government,” the judgment said.
The Bench pointed that he cannot challenge the state government while being a minister. “In our considered opinion, the petitioner, who is a Minister in the Council of Ministers, cannot, so long as he continues to be a Minister, invoke the writ jurisdiction of this court to prevent the state of Kerala and its officers from discharging executive functions,” the Bench held.
The judgment stated that, as a member of the state Cabinet, the petitioner is collectively responsible along with other members of the Cabinet to the Legislative Assembly.
The report was prepared based on a directive issued by the Revenue Minister. The Collector submitted two reports, dated September 22 and October 22, to the Revenue Secretary pursuant to the directions issued by the Revenue Minister on August 22.