NEW DELHI: A plea has been filed by a Tamil Nadu lawyer in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Secretary of the President of India and others to immediately recall Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi.
The lawyer, C.R. Jaya Sukin, in his plea filed before the apex court, said that the Governor walked out without delivering his customary address in the Legislative Assembly on January 6. This marks a "hat trick" of walkouts by the Governor from the Legislative Assembly.
The Governor claimed that the national anthem was not played, as per his request, at the beginning of his official address. Instead, the Tamil Nadu State anthem, "Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu" (Invocation to Mother Tamil), was sung, according to the plea.
"Since taking over as Tamil Nadu Governor, Mr. Ravi has made charged political comments, ignoring the rules of conduct for the Governor's chair. He has termed the Dravidian model of governance an expired ideology. He has delayed legislation by refusing to give his assent to Bills. On occasion, he has sent back Bills or withheld them," the plea filed by Sukin before the Supreme Court said.
The Governor has repeatedly criticised the Dravidian culture and the Dravidian model of governance. The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has made it clear that the Governor cannot enter the political arena and may discharge only those functions specified in the Constitution.
"The Governor is a constitutional functionary who derives his authority from the Constitution. As such, the Governor must be aware of the constitutional limits of the power vested in him. He cannot exercise a power that is not conferred on him by the Constitution or any law made under it," the plea filed in the apex court said.