Tamil Nadu governor’s actions don’t violate Constitution, his principal secretary says
B Sivakumar | TNN | Nov 20, 2017, 20:32 IST
In a Raj Bhavan release, the governor's principal secretary Ramesh Chand Meena said the governor meeting officials did not in any way violate the Constitution and he would continue to do so for the well-being of Tamil Nadu people.
Soon after the governor met officials on his tour of the western districts, opposition parties DMK, Congress, PMK and the Left kicked up a storm, saying his actions set a wrong precedent and that it went against state autonomy. They accused him of acting as an agent of the Centre to rule the state by default.
"[A] few critics felt that the governor had a political agenda and that he was acting at the behest of the Centre, given the current political context in which Tamil Nadu is finding itself now. This part of the criticism is absolutely wrong and based on the figment of imagination," said the secretary.
The purpose of the meeting with officials was to seek first-hand inputs about various welfare and developmental schemes and programmes and their implementation, he said. "Certain sections of the society found this effort as something that has to be welcomed, while others found the action as not in conformity with constitutional provisions and conventions," he said.
The statement said the governor was sure about the legality and correctness of his action. The governor sought legal opinion from one of the leading experts to have a proper examination of his action, the secretary said. "Equipped with that detailed opinion, Thiru Purohit asserts that none of his actions in seeking a meeting with the district officials in Coimbatore amounts to any illegality or unconstitutionality," said the secretary.
He said there was no attempt to short-circuit the official channels or force a meeting. "Everything was done according to the norms and the meeting gave the governor a good idea of the statutes of various welfare and developmental schemes and programmes in Coimbatore district," he said.
The secretary said even when Purohit was Assam governor, he had conducted several meetings in the state and won everybody's appreciation. "While conducting such meetings, the governor violated any law or the Constitution. These meetings helped him in getting first-hand knowledge of the developmental needs and problems faced by people at the grassroots level. This helped him reflect the same to the Centre and thereby enabling him to avail more funds to fulfill the needs of the people," said the secretary.
The governor is said to continue similar such efforts in Tamil Nadu to fulfil his responsibilities as envisaged in the oath taken to devote himself in the service and well-being of the people of Tamil Nadu, he added.
"At no place does the Constitution stop the governor from seeking any such meetings. The purpose in seeking such meetings is not to subvert the authority of the state government, but to support their efforts in good governance," he said, adding that the governor "prays to the Almighty that Tamil Nadu reached pinnacle of the glory in the times to come".
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