PM, CM do not have disciplinary control over council of ministers: SC

Prime minister or a chief minister does not have disciplinary control over the members of the council of ministers and it is not possible at all times for them to take the whip whenever a disparaging statement is made, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.

The observation by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice S A Nazeer came while delivering its judgement on the issue of freedom of speech and expression of public functionaries.

The Prime Minister or the Chief Minister does not have disciplinary control over the members of the Council of Ministers. It is true that in practice, a strong Prime Minister or Chief Minister will be able to drop any minister out of the Cabinet.

But in a country like ours where there is a multiparty system and where coalition governments are often formed, it is not possible at all times for a Prime Minister/Chief Minister to take the whip, whenever a statement is made by someone in the Council of Ministers, Justice V Ramasubramanian, who wrote th