Krishna Iyer flays Kerala governor

8 June 2009
Kochi, June 8: Former Supreme Court Judge V.R. Krishna Iyer Monday criticised Kerala Governor R S Gavai's decision for according sanction to the CBI to prosecute CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in a graft case.

"To dismiss the Cabinet opinion and relying on the advice of the police chief is to make India a police raj not swaraj," Iyer said in a statement here. "The grave issue shaking the Constitution in its conscience is whether the Governor in his discretion can dismiss the cabinet's decision, defeat and govern the state by his opinionated view.

"If he can do so in one case, calling it irrational or biased, he can overrule every cabinet decision," Iyer said. "India fundamentally is a democracy, which means that ultimately supremacy and sovereignty vest in the people's representatives, not in a non-accountable authority.

If this basic structure is violated, the Constitution of India is reduced to printed verbosity, not effective state power of the people," he said. Referring to an earlier seven-judge bench ruling of the Apex court, Iyer said the Chief Justice had held that the Governor was bound to act obeying the Cabinet recommendation and not against it.