The CPI(M) seems to have declared an open war on the Kerala Governor over his sanction to prosecute party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC-Lavalin scam,with Home Minister and Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan claiming that the Raj Bhavan was thwarting the functional freedom of an elected government. Right from the beginning of the Lavalin scam,the CPI(M) had hunted every institution,including the constitutional ones,which had found corruption in the deal. In 2005,after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India first reported a loss of Rs 374.5 crore in the Lavalin deal,the party found fault with that body. When the Kerala High Court ordered a CBI probe into the scam,the party did not even spare the judiciary. Later,the CBI was put on the firing line after the agency named Vijayan as the ninth accused. Now,it seems to be the Governors turn to face the heat. Kodiyeri said the Governor should not have handed over the sanction report to the CBI directly. As he had sought the opinion of the Cabinet,the decision,what ever it might be,should have been communicated to the Cabinet. The Governor has violated procedures in this regard. He should have informed the Cabinet the circumstances that led to the decision to give sanction, he said. As he failed to communicate the decision,the Government was deprived of the chance to even challenge the sanction. Though two days have elapsed after the report submitted to the CBI,the Raj Bhavan has not communicated the matter to the Cabinet, he said. However,an hour after Kodiyeris comments,the Raj Bhavan rushed a copy of the sanction report to the Chief Ministers office. The Ministers action is seen against the spirit of the Article 163 of the Constitution,which says the Council of Ministers is meant to aid and advise the Governor. It also says that if any question arises whether any matter is or is not a matter as respects which the Governor is by or under the Constitution required to act in his discretion,the decision of the Governor in his discretion shall be final. And the validity of anything done by the Governor shall not be called in question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in his discretion. It was highly improper on the part of the minister to question the Governor. There is no clause in the Constitution or the Criminal Procedural Code which would justify the ministers demand that the Governor should report the matter to the Cabinet, said advocate Kaliswaram Raj of the Kerala High Court. In a related development,Vaikkom Vishwan,the convener of the Left Democratic Front,said the Governor had committed serious procedural lapses by overruling the Cabinet recommendation on the prosecution. He has given the prosecution sanction under duress from external forces. He is an insult to the post, said Vishwan.
