‘Constitutional Impasse’: Ex-Law Ministers Write to Rajasthan Guv

The former ministers have advised the governor to go by the government request on the matter.

Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid. 

(Photo: PTI/IANS/Altered by The Quint)

As the stand-off between Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra and the Ashok Gehlot government continues over the convening of the Assembly session, three former Union law ministers have written to Mishra on what they called the “constitutional impasse” and advised him to go by the government request on the matter.

The letter signed by Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and Ashwani Kumar said that "the delay in convening the special session of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha as decided and advised by the Council of Ministers has resulted in an avoidable constitutional impasse."

All three Congress leaders said that they have been at the helm of the Law Ministry in the past and "students" of the Constitution, adding that as per the established legal position, the governor is "obliged to call the Assembly session in accordance with the advice of the state Cabinet".

Catch all the updates on the Rajasthan political crisis here.

They cited a case decided by the Supreme Court, and said that "the position of the governor, his role and limits, and circumscribed constitutional jurisdiction, have been elaborated by the Supreme Court by its seven-judge bench judgment in the ‘Shamsher Singh vs Union of India’ case in 1974 and more recently in the Nabam Rebia case in 2016."

Mishra on Monday returned the file sent by the Gehlot government to request him to allow the convening of the special Assembly session, citing three conditions, including a 21-day notice period before convening the Assembly session amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was the second time that the state government had sent a file to the governor to get approval to its proposal for the session, citing the COVID situation as the reason for holding discussion.

(This story has been edited for clarity.)