A petition seeking to issue directions to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to act against four CPI Ministers of his Cabinet for abstaining from a Cabinet meeting was dismissed by the High Court of Kerala on Friday.
The four Ministers had abstained from the Cabinet meeting in protest against the continuance in office of their Cabinet colleague Thomas Chandy who was facing allegations of illegal reclamation and land grab.
As the four Ministers of the LDF Ministry had raised protest and with a Division Bench of the High Court criticising Mr. Chandy for approaching the court against his Cabinet colleague, Mr. Chandy had to step down.
The Division Bench had also criticised that the act of the Minister amounted to breach of collective Cabinet responsibility.
The decision of the CPI Ministers to abstain from the Cabinet meeting on November 15 had strained the political relations between the CPI (M) and the CPI. The Chief Minister himself had expressed his displeasure on the stand of his Cabinet colleagues.
While dismissing the petition, the court held that it was not the courts but the Chief Minister who has to take a call on the issue.
