Jailed Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji has on Friday - January 5 got a relief amidst a rue of serving incarceration for over eight months. The Supreme Court has ruled that he can remain a minister in the state and the verdict has given a blow to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, who dismissed Senthil Balaji from the cabinet in the wake of his imprisonment. 

Senthil Balaji was serving as the Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition & Excise and in June 2023, he came under the radar of Enforcement Directorate (ED) when he was accused in a job-for-cash scam that he had allegedly committed when he was serving as the Transport Minister in the ADMK regime. The ED has filed a case against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

The ED had conducted raids at Senthil Balaji's residence in Chennai and took him into custody. As Senthil Balaji faced severe medical ailments, he was hospitalized earlier and has now been lodged at Central Prison in Puzhal. By the time Senthil Balaji was arrested, he was serving as a minister in Chief Minister MK Stalin's cabinet. 

However, owing to his imprisonment, his portfolios were given to other ministers and Senthil Balaji was made a Minister without portfolio, an event that sparked backlash from Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi. As Balaji's custody under ED has come amidst conflicts between the Governor and the DMK-led state government, RN Ravi went on to unilaterally remove Senthil Balaji from the cabinet without the recommendation from the Chief Minister. 

The Governor's decision to dismiss Senthil Balaji from the cabinet had fueled the Governor-government friction. Earlier, there were batch of petitions filed before the Madras High Court against the continuance of Senthil Balaji as a Minister without portfolio. Hearing the petitions, the High Court on September 5, 2023, had refused to issue any direction regarding dismissing Senthil Balaji from the cabinet.

In its ruling, the High Court said, "Neither the Constitution nor the Representation of People Act of 1951 disqualifies a person to be a Member of the State Legislative Assembly after he is under custody or is undergoing trial after framing of the charges." Nevertheless, an activist named ML Ravi has approached the Supreme Court to challenge the High Court's ruling against the petitions that sought to dismiss Senthil Balaji from the cabinet even after getting arrested. 

The petitioner argued that the High Court didn't notice the letter issued by Governor RN Ravi on June 29, 2023, in dismissal of Senthil Balaji as a minister under Article 154, 163, and 164 of the Constitution with immediate effect. The petitioner has also raised the question whether the High Court is correct in disposing the matter with a mere advice to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to take decision about the continuaunce of Senthil Balaji as a Minister without portfolio. 

Furthermore, the petitioner has also claimed that the High Court is wrong in stating that there is no legislation on removal of Minister who is in custody. After hearing, the apex court has on Friday pronounced a ruling, declining to consider the petition challenging the High Court's verdict that dismissed the petitions against Senthil Balaji. 

In its verdict, the Supreme Court bench comprised of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said that the court concurred with a judgment of the Madras High Court. The Justices observed, "Perusing the impugned judgment of the High Court, we concur with the view taken. No interference is called for under Article 136." The bench has also observed that a Governor cannot dismiss a Minister without the recommendation of the Chief Minister.