Tamil Nadu CM Stalin (left) and Governor R N Ravi (right).
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on met Governor R N Ravi and nudged him to give his immediate approval to 10 bills that were re-enacted by the state Assembly by withdrawing his action of sending them to the President, a month after the Supreme Court asked them to sit together and sort out pending issues.
Ravi, whose meeting with Stalin was warm and cordial, assured his “continuing support” to the state government “within the bounds of the Constitution of India.” Ravi also underscored the need and advantages of “periodic meetings” between him and the Chief Minister for the “larger interest” of the state, according to a statement from Raj Bhavan.
“The meeting was held in a very cordial manner. We need to wait for the result (of this meeting) in the (Supreme) court,” Law Minister S Regupathy told reporters after the 30-minute meeting between Stalin and Ravi. It is expected that the Governor will apprise the Supreme Court about his meeting, which was initiated by his side, with Stalin.
Stalin, who met the Governor along with four senior ministers and top bureaucrats, also sought early disposal of files relating to premature release of 49 prisoners languishing in jails, sanction to prosecute two former AIADMK ministers in corruption cases, and clear appointments to the Tamil Nadu Public Services Commission (TNPSC).
The apex court had on December 1, while expressing displeasure at the Governor’s delay in clearing the bills, had counselled Ravi to invite Stalin and sort out the issues with the state government. However, the meeting couldn’t happen immediately as Stalin and his administration were busy in handling unprecedented rains and subsequent floods in parts of the state.
An official statement from the government said the Chief Minister suggested that the Governor sending 10 bills, which were re-enacted by the Assembly and sent back to him following his withholding assent to them, to the President of India was not in line with the Constitution.
“The Chief Minister stressed that the Governor should withdraw his action, give his approval to the 10 bills, and send them to the state government… The Chief Minister stressed that the Governor should function within the ambit of the Constitution and only then his role will benefit people’s cause and help the administration,” the statement added.
The government believes that the action of referring the bills to the President was only a “delaying tactic” as those legislations need not be sent to New Delhi as the Governor can decided on his own.
The Chief Minister also told the Governor that he should “keep in mind” the observations made by the Supreme Court and grant approvals to bills and files in a time bound manner by avoiding such delays, the statement said.
Besides the 10 bills, another 11 legislations are pending with the Governor of which the Government itself wanted eight of them should be sent to the President due to the nature of the subjects, while two more bills, including establishment of a Siddha university, are also with the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Only one bill relating to agriculture is with the Governor as of now, Regupathy said.
The Chief Minister also sought immediate nod for prosecuting two former AIADMK ministers – M R Vijayabhaskar and K C Veeramani, besides clearing the files relating to pre-mature release of prisoners languishing in jails on the occasion of the birth anniversary of DMK founder C N Annadurai.
“We sent about 112 files to the Governor for pre-mature release. He approved 68 and rejected two. We have sought approval for the remaining 42 files and 7 more files on an order from the High Court,” Regupathy added.