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Krishna Iyer flays Governor’s action

Kochi: Former Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer has criticised Governor R.S. Gavai’s decision to accord sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to prosecute Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC-Lavalin case.

“To dismiss the Cabinet opinion and rely on the advice of the police chief is to make India a police raj not swaraj,” Mr. Krishna Iyer said in a statement here on Monday.

“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,” Mr. Krishna 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. — PTI

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