In October 2004, Tamil Nadu’s then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was caught in a stormy political situation over a charge that she had recorded a telephone conversation with then Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
It all began when in an unusual move, the Tamil Nadu government, represented by its Chief Secretary Lakshmi Pranesh, approached the Supreme Court seeking to stall the likely transfer of Governor P.S. Ramamohan Rao before the completion of his tenure.
At the time of filing of the suit, there was no official announcement about moving out Mr. Rao. However, since there were talks about the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which came to power at the Centre earlier that year, effecting some gubernatorial transfers, the Jayalalithaa government wanted to pre-empt the possibility of Mr. Rao’s exit.
The government submitted in the apex court that the DMK, which was a part of the Centre, wanted to have a Governor who could act on its diktat. “The DMK wants to change the Governor with a view to destabilising the present Government by forcing the Governor to submit a report under Article 356 of the Constitution recommending dissolution of the Assembly,” it claimed. In its suit, the government sought to restrain the Centre from transferring or removing the Governor without the consent of the Chief Minister.
