New Delhi, March 18 -- The Supreme Court on Monday decided to review a petition from the Tamil Nadu government challenging Governor RN Ravi's refusal to appoint K Ponmudi, a senior DMK leader, as a state Cabinet minister.

Governor Ravi recently declined to reappoint the former Higher Education Minister to the state Cabinet, citing it would violate Constitutional morality.

The bench, consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, acknowledged the arguments presented by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who represented the state government, underlining the urgency of the matter.

The state government is seeking a directive for the Governor to follow the counsel and advice of the council of ministers, led by Chief Minister M K Stalin.

Singhvi pointed out that this is the same Governor who had previously been reprimanded by the court. Despite the Supreme Court suspending Ponmudi's conviction and the Chief Minister recommending his appointment, the Governor deemed it Constitutionally immoral in a letter.

The Chief Justice asked for an email to be sent for further examination.

In a letter to Stalin, the Governor clarified that the Supreme Court had only temporarily suspended Ponmudi's conviction.

The Governor declined to include the leader in Stalin's Cabinet.

The state government has submitted an interim plea in a petition related to the non-approval of bills passed by the Legislative Assembly.

The plea argues that the Governor is obligated to follow the counsel and advice of the council of ministers, as per the Constitutional scheme. It further states that once the conviction was suspended, there were no legal or Constitutional obstacles to Ponmudi's reappointment to the state Cabinet.

Ponmudi, a senior DMK leader, was disqualified as an MLA under the Representation of the People Act after the Madras High Court overturned his acquittal in a disproportionate assets case.

The Supreme Court suspended the conviction and sentence of the leader, who was sentenced to over two years in prison.

Following the Supreme Court's suspension of Ponmudi's conviction in a disproportionate assets case, the state government reinstated him as a legislator. However, the Governor clarified that the conviction and sentence were only suspended, not annulled.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.