Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday strongly condemned the Union Government’s Presidential reference to the Supreme Court seeking clarification sought on the Constitutional options before a Governor when a Bill is presented to him/her under Article 200.
The Presidential reference was made following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in the Tamil Nadu case in which it granted deemed assent to 10 Bills, on which the Governor / President had delayed a decision. Besides, the court had set a time frame for Governors and the President to act on Bills.
Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin's Statement
Stalin, in a statement, said, the Presidential reference attempts to subvert the Constitutional position already settled by the Supreme Court in the Tamil Nadu Governor’s case and other precedents. “This attempt clearly exposes 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 Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the Constitution,” he said.
The Chief Minister, who also heads the DMK, questioned 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?,” he asked.
“Our nation stands at a critical juncture. 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 said.
According to him, this poses a clear exigent threat to State autonomy. “In these grave circumstances, I urge all non-BJP States and party leaders to join this legal struggle to defend the Constitution,” he said adding, “We will fight this battle with all our might. Tamil Nadu will fight — and Tamil Nadu will win!”
