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A quiet governor leaves a storm behind

George Iype in Madras

For the last four years, Justice M Fathima Beevi, who resigned as Governor of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, worked quietly.

But on Monday morning, the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India to become a governor, packed her bags and left the Raj Bhavan quietly, after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's swoop on former chief minister M Karunanidhi.

Andhra Pradesh Governor Dr C Rangarajan, who has been asked to officiate as Tamil Nadu Governor till a new governor is appointed, will be sworn-in on Tuesday.

It is ironic that the 73-year-old Fathima Beevi, a spinster, who lived like a recluse in Raj Bhavan had to leave her office under controversial circumstances over the arrest of Karunanidhi, who pitched for her appointment four years ago.

It was Karunanidhi who specially requested for the appointment of Beevi in 1997. So when she assumed office on January 25, 1997, she was tame and without any political ambitions unlike her immediate predecessor Channa Reddy. Reddy, who kept his political ambitions alive even after becoming the governor of Tamil Nadu, had a running battle with the then chief minister Jayalalitha.

So throughout the Karunanidhi regime, Fathima Beevi carried out her constitutional duties without any political agenda. Often Karunanidhi spoke very highly of her.

But the rules of the game changed soon after the assembly elections in May. The DMK, which got trounced in the elections was upset when Fathima Beevi invited Jayalalithaa, who could not contest the polls because of the corruption charges against her, to form the new government.

"Fathima Beevi always acted within constitutional limits and never strayed away from the laws during our rule in Tamil Nadu. But for some curious reasons, her tone changed soon after we got defeated in the elections," said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary K Anbazhagam.

DMK, other partners of the National Democratic Alliance and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government were peeved that the governor did not consult the Centre before appointing Jayalalithaa as chief minister.

"It was a questionable act. She could have at least consulted the President's office and the Attorney General before she appointed the Jayalalithaa government," said Anbazhagam.

Instead, Jayalalithaa was sworn-in by Fathima Beevi as the chief minister within three hours after the AIADMK general secretary met her on May 14.

Since then some DMK leaders have been complaining privately that Jayalalithaa had struck a deal with Fathima Beevi. Some of them even alleged that Jayalalithaa had "bribed" the governor to get appointed as the chief minister.

But strangely, the governor never publicly put forward her reasons for inviting Jayalalithaa to head the government. A day before the election results came, Beevi visited New Delhi apparently to consult the constitutional experts on Jayalalithaa's appointment.

But Attorney General Soli Sorabji soon denied that the governor ever met him to seek any advise on Jayalalithaa's swearing-in. Sorabji even issued a statement saying that Beevi never consulted him.

A victorious Jayalalithaa then declared: "Fathima Beevi is a retired judge of the Supreme Court. No body needs to teach her law." Beevi kept quiet, as usual, and never explained the rationale and legal position behind the decision.

But then Beevi would have never sensed that she would be forced out of the office by Jayalalithaa's swift and strong action against Karunanidhi. "It is sad that the governor had to leave because of Jayalalithaa government's action against Karunanidhi with whom she kept the best of relations," said an officer in Raj Bhavan.

Officials in the Raj Bhavan are wondering why Beevi sent a report strongly backing the police action against Karunanidhi to the Central government. She in fact just reproduced the Tamil Nadu home department's report on the Karunanidhi's arrest and sent it to the Centre.

"The governor could have asked for an explanation from the Jayalalithaa government over the manner in which Karunanidhi and the Central ministers were arrested. Though there was a complete constitutional break-down in the state, the governor supported the state government for some strange reasons," an official told rediff.com

Many believe having chosen Jayalalithaa as chief minister just over a month ago, Beevi had no other option but to support the AIADMK government.

The silence with which Fathima Beevi lived in Raj Bhavan was enigmatic. She rarely stepped out of the Raj Bhavan and was never seen with the political elite in Madras. She was a complete antithesis to some of the former Tamil Nadu governors such as Channa Reddy, Bhishma Narain Singh and Surjeet Singh Barnala.

The judge-turned-governor will in all probably settle down in her ancestral house in Pathanamthitta in Kerala and will perhaps tell her version of the story on one day.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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