Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi on Thursday questioned the jurisdiction of Home Secretary Anil Goswami in asking him to quit, and said he had no legal authority to do so.
A three-judge Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha issued notice to the Centre, seeking its response.
In his writ petition, Mr. Qureshi said the conduct of the Home Secretary, if allowed to continue, would jeopardise the constitutional scheme, as under the fear of sacking, the Centre could arm-twist Governors in the discharge of important functions of their office.
He said the writ petition raised important questions of law, as to what should be the mode of communication regarding any aspect of ‘pleasure’ of the President under Article 156 of the Constitution. The plea also asked if anyone except the President’s Secretariat could communicate with the Governor regarding withdrawal of ‘pleasure’.
Another question raised by the plea was whether the Home Secretary’s action had the propensity to irreparably injure the federal structure and Centre-State relations and if Mr. Goswami had acted with impropriety and breach of his official position.
Mr. Qureshi asserted that the Home Secretary’s action was illegal. He said there was no question of the Home Secretary setting terms for the Governor and attempting to extract a resignation under the fear of removal as such action was alien to the Constitutional ethos.
