CM Stalin slams BJP-led union government for presidential reference to SC on verdict in TN Governor case
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday strongly condemned the BJP-led union government over President Murmu's letter to the Supreme Court, seeking clarity on the judgment that effectively set a deadline for the President and Governors to clear Bills passed by the legislature.
On Wednesday, President Droupadi Murmu, in response to the Supreme Court's verdict of April 8, asked the court how it could have given such a ruling when the Constitution had no such stipulations.
The CM, in a hard-hitting statement here, said the union government's Presidential reference to the SC attempts to subvert the Constitutional position already settled by the SC in the Tamil Nadu Governor’s case and other precedents.
Stating that the country stands at a critical juncture, the CM pointed out that the questions raised in the reference reveal the BJP-led union government’s sinister intent to distort the Constitution’s basic distribution of powers and incapacitate the State Legislatures dominated by opposition parties.
He also said the presidential reference posed a clear exigent threat to State autonomy and called upon all non-BJP States and party leaders to join this legal struggle to defend the Constitution. "We will fight this battle with all our might. Tamil Nadu will fight — and Tamil Nadu will win!" the CM said in his statement.
The Tamil Nadu CM also said this attempt clearly exposed the fact that the Tamil Nadu Governor acted at the BJP’s behest to undermine the people’s mandate.
"This is nothing but a desperate attempt to weaken democratically elected State governments by placing them under the control of governors serving as agents of the union government. It also directly challenges the majesty of law and the authority of the SC as the final interpreter of the Constitution," Stalin added.
Questioning the intention behind the union government's presidential reference to the SC, the Tamil Nadu CM posed three vital questions: "Why should there be any objection to prescribing time limits for governors to act? Is the BJP seeking to legitimise its governors’ obstruction by allowing indefinite delays in Bill assent? Does the union government intend to paralyse non-BJP State Legislatures?".