THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former governor Rajendra Arlekar’s letter to President Droupadi Murmu sparked a political storm on Sunday. While the LDF vehemently opposed the move, the BJP welcomed it, even as Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala clarified that Arlekar took the decision without consulting the state government.
Calling the letter the final, hurried addition to a series of illegal interventions made by the outgoing governor, Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan termed the move “unconstitutional”.
“According to Article 316(2), members are appointed for a tenure of six years, who can only be removed by following Article 317. The President can take a decision on this only after the Supreme Court conducts an inquiry regarding complaints of a member’s misbehaviour.
No such inquiry has been conducted in the Supreme Court against the members of the PSC, and thereby, the governor has no constitutional authority to make such a recommendation,” Pinarayi said.
Pointing out that the governor can act only in accordance with the cabinet according to Article 163, the former chief minister added that the cabinet cannot act without the Supreme Court’s inquiry report either.
Never in the history of Keralam had the PSC been seen through the lens of political vendetta and hence the state government should clarify its stance on the matter, he said.
“Is the government going to take a favourable stance by using this illegal act of the governor to dissolve the existing PSC with political bias and prejudice? Or is it prepared to condemn the governor’s stance?” Pinarayi asked.
He also slammed the BJP, saying that the party is using governors as the Union government’s “agents” to intrude into the federal powers of the state.
Stating that the Keralam PSC contributed over 60% of the total PSC appointments made in the country, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said the BJP is trying to sabotage the PSC system through the governor.
“The letter to the President recommending the removal of PSC chairman and members seems like a continuation of RSS intrusion, especially in the higher education sector. The Congress, Muslim League and the BJP function like a single alliance on such topics,” Govindan said in Kannur.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Chennithala maintained that the state government was unaware of the former governor’s action.
“No prior consultation was done from the governor’s side before this move. Even I came across the new development through the media. There have been several discrepancies in the PSC, against which strong action will be initiated within a week,” Chennithala told reporters.
Revenue Minister A P Anilkumar criticised Arlekar’s move, terming his action, by keeping the government in the dark, extremely serious.
“When a crime branch investigation is on, sending such a hasty recommendation just before stepping down, even before the investigation report, is against constitutional decorum,” Anilkumar noted in a Facebook post.
Welcoming Arlekar’s action, BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Congress-League government is shielding CPM’s irregularities in PSC.
‘Unconstitutional’
Terming the move “unconstitutional”, Pinarayi Vijayan said that no such inquiry has been conducted in the SC against the PSC members, and thereby, the governor has no constitutional authority to make such a recommendation