Madras HC to hear petitions seeking Senthilbalaji’s ouster from T.N. Cabinet

Subject : Polity

Section : Executive

Concept :

The Madras High Court has listed for hearing a batch of writ petitions challenging the continuation of V. Senthilbalaji as Minister without portfolio in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet despite his arrest on June 14 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.
The counsels for the two petitioners referred to Article 164 of the Constitution and contended that a Minister could continue in office only “during the pleasure of the Governor”.

Article 164 of the Constitution

Article 164 contains similar provisions to Article 75 for the State Council of Ministers.
According to Article 164(1), the Governor appoints the state’s Council of Ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister.
In addition, a Minister of Tribal Welfares will be appointed in the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa, who will also be responsible for the welfare of scheduled castes and backward classes.
According to Article 164(1)(a), a state’s total number of ministers cannot exceed 15% of the entire number of ministers in the state.
The 91st amendment adds Article 164(1)(b) to the Act, which mentions the disqualification of a minister of state.
Article 164(2) refers to the state’s Council of Ministers’ collective responsibility.
Article 164(3) discusses the forms of oath mentioned in the Constitution’s Third Schedule.
According to Article 164(4), a Minister should retire from office if he or she has not been a member of the state legislature for six months.
The wages and other allowances paid to the state council of Ministers are discussed in Article 164(5).