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Cabinet to recommend Governor's recall

The Union Cabinet on Sunday decided to recommend to President K R Narayanan the immediate recall of Tamil Nadu Governor Fathima Beevi.

Briefing the media at the end of a marathon emergency session of the Cabinet convened at the residence of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Law Minister Arun Jaitley said that the Governor had "wholly failed to discharge her constitutional obligations."

"The report received by Union Home Secretary Kamal Pandey this morning does not reflect the true situation in Tamil Nadu today," the minister said. "The Cabinet has therefore decided to recommend the immediate recall of the governor."

In a scathing indictment of the TN governor, Jaitley said, "It is the obligation of the Governor to keep the President and the Centre informed of all significant political developments in the state. In this, Fathima Beevi has failed totally."

Jaitley pointed out, further, that Beevi's report, sent to the Centre following the direct expression of the PM's displeasure, was unsatisfactory.

"The report indicates that the governor did not make any independent and objective assessment of the situation in the state, but merely forwarded the views of the state government," Jaitley said. "In fact, several portions of her report are a verbatim reproduction of the report that the chief secretary has sent and that is flagrant defiance of the worst kind."

Jaitley minced no words in condemning the Beevi report. "She has said in her report, for instance, that no journalist was arrested. Was she trying to insult the intelligence of the Central government, headed by our prime minister?" he demanded.

The law minister said the Cabinet had taken unanimous, and grave, exception to Beevi's refusing to send in an independent report and, instead, merely going by the state government's views. "She was asked to report on whether there was a breakdown in the state machinery," Jaitley pointed out. "And she chose to reproduce the state government's words. The question is, do you when preparing a report of this kind consult the person against whom the report has to do in a large measure?"

The minister said that the meeting today had discussed various issues arising out of the arrest of former TN Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi and Union Ministers Murasoli Maran and T R Balu. "The Cabinet will meet again tomorrow, to resolve certain issues and decide on the next course of action," Jaitley said.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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