NEW DELHI: Slamming the Tamil Nadu Governor, R N Ravi, for acting like an extra-constitutional authority, the Supreme Court on Thursday took strong objection to his conduct and said he was "defying the Supreme Court of India."
The three-judge bench of the SC, led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud passed these strong remarks against the TN Governor, while hearing a petition filed by K Ponmudy, seeking a direction to the State governor to reinduct him into the State cabinet after his conviction and sentence was stayed by the Supreme Court.
"The (TN) governor is defying the SC of India. He cannot do like this. There is a Supreme Court order of stay of sentence and concision against Ponmudy. So he has to act as per law," the SC observed.
Cautioning the governor to act in the case and if failed to swear him as minister by Friday, a stinging order will be passed against you, the CJI sternly warned the governor.
"We are seriously concerned by the conduct of the Governor. He is defying the SC. When an SC's two-judge bench stays conviction and sentence fo Ponmudy, the governor has no business to say he would not administer oath to him as minister," the CJI said.
The bench said, we are giving just a day to hear from the Governor that oath has been given to Ponmudy, otherwise we will pass an order recording our views.
"How Governor can say his perception of the alleged taint of Ponmudy overrides the SC order staying conviction and sentence," the SC said.
This comes after the TN Governor R N Ravi refused to re-induct K Ponmudy into the cabinet, the State government knocked the doors of the Supreme Court challenging the same and immediately sought a direction for his entry into the cabinet.
Ponmudy, 74, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) minister, was the State Higher Education Minister earlier, but in December 2023, he was convicted by the Madras High Court in December 2023 and also sentenced to three years imprisonment in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.
The sentence automatically disqualified him as a legislator, leading to his removal as the minister.
But on March 11, last week, following the stay on his conviction and sentence, by the top court, Ponmudy's membership in the State legislature was restored and thereby it had requested the SC to re-induct him into the cabinet on this ground. TN Chief Minister MK Stalin also recommended him for induction to cabinet.
"The Governor of Tamil Nadu was breaching the Constitutional mandate on him to follow the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers in discharge of his official functions. He also disregards and delays in granting assent to the Bills passed by the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly. The Governor was acting as a political opponent of the Government and was challenging the Government on its policies and the Legislature on the laws enacted by it. Thereby, the state govt os forced to file this plea before the apex court," the TN govt in its plea, said.
On the other hand, the Governor, refused to swear in Ponmudy as a minister on the ground that his conviction had only been stayed and not set aside.
"Ponmudi is tainted of corruption and that his appointment would be against constitutional morality," he said.
But on March 11, in a major relief to former Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister Ponmudy, the Supreme Court's two-judge bench headed by Justice Abhay S Oka and also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, in its order on March 11 stayed his conviction in connection with the DA case against him.
It also suspended the sentence of his wife, P Vishalatchi, and directed her that she can move the special court for bail.
The top court passed the order, after hearing from senior advocate and former Attorney General (AG) of India, Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the couple before the top court today and argued that they were innocent in the case.
The Supreme Court had in January in its decision refused to grant an interim stay on the 3-year jail sentence ordered by the Madras High Court to former DMK minister in the TN govt, Ponmudy and his wife, P Vishalatchi in a DA case.
The former DMK Minister Ponmudy and his wife, Vishalatchi had knocked the doors of the Supreme Court on January 3, challenging their conviction and three-year imprisonment in a Rs 1.75-crore DA case.
Ponmudy 73 and Vishalatchi, 68, had filed their respective Special Leave Petitions (SLP) before the Top court challenging their conviction and sentence.
On behalf Ponmudy and his wife, Visalakhi, advocates Agarwala and Pulkit Tare have filed the SLPs before the Top court challenging their conviction and sentence.
They are, in their SLP, sought stay of the order of the Madras HC and exemption from surrendering.
On December 22 last year, the Madras High Court, in its order, had sentenced the senior party leader and state’s higher education minister K Ponmudy and his wife to three-year imprisonment in a Rs 1.75-crore disproportionate assets case.
Justice G Jayachandran of the Madras HC, in the order, held the couple guilty under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988, also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh each on Ponmudy and his wife, P Visalatchi.
The HC, however, in January had granted the couple one month to surrender before the trial ourt to undergo the prison sentencing in the case. It did so, keeping in view their age and other factors.
Following the order of the Madras HC, which sentenced Ponmudy to three-year prison term, he stands disqualified as a legislator from Thirukoyyilur constituency, in accordance to the Representation of the People (RP) Act.
Ponmudy claimed that the case against him was filed out of vengeance by the previous AIADMK regime and he claimed innocence in the case.