Kerala Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan on Wednesday denied the allegation that this year's address of the Governor to the Assembly did not have formal approval of the Cabinet.
Replying to questions from the media at a Cabinet briefing, the Chief Minister said that reports to the contrary were wrong.
It had been reported that the Cabinet had not sat through a full reading of the speech for approval though the Chief Secretary Neela Gangadharan had reminded it of the requirement. As Ministers were unwilling to sit through the process, the finalisation of the draft was left to a Cabinet sub-committee. However, the speech finalised by the Sub committee did not come before the Cabinet for approval, it was alleged.
The Opposition parties have petitioned the Governor R. S. Gavai over the issue. The Governor had addressed the Budget session of the House on February 24.