Governor RN Ravi has withdrawn the controversial order dismissing Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji from the Council of Ministers just hours after issuing it on Thursday, June 29, as per highly-placed sources in Raj Bhavan. Senthil Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of money laundering on June 14, has been retained as a Minister without portfolio in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s cabinet. Immediately after the Governor issued the order, Chief Minister MK Stalin had lashed out against the decision to sack him, alleging that the Governor does not have any power to remove a minister from the Council of Ministers on his own.
The Governor, in the statement dismissing Balaji, has said that he was misusing his power as a minister and influencing an ongoing case against him. Sources said that the Governor has hurriedly withdrawn his earlier order after Stalin said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Tamil Nadu government would fight the move legally and approach the Supreme Court against this. Officials in Raj Bhavan said the Governor had withdrawn the decision following intervention from the Union government, which advised the Governor to take a legal opinion.
Balaji, who was the Electricity and Excise and Prohibition Minister, was arrested earlier this month, amid high drama by the ED in an old cash for job scam, and is now in judicial custody. While he was divested of the key portfolios, he continued to be a minister in the DMK government.