New Delhi, July 5: The sacking of governors took a legal turn today with a BJP MP filing a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court terming the dismissals unconstitutional.

The litigation, filed by B.P. Singhal, a BJP MP and brother of VHP working president Ashok Singhal, contended that the removal of the governors of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Goa was “unconstitutional” as the statute provides for a fixed tenure of five years.

The case revives an issue pending before a five-judge Constitution bench since 1991. The PIL has not yet been marked for urgent hearing and it is not known whether the bench would be reactivated. The petition may be mentioned tomorrow before the chief justice’s court for early hearing.

The Supreme Court has kept open the issue of the power of the Centre to change, remove or recall governors once a new government assumed office when such a question came before it in 1991.

Ironically, it was the Congress, through party advocate Ranji Thomas, which had then challenged the Centre’s power to remove governors.

The short-lived Chandra Shekhar government was in power then and the Supreme Court did not give an answer as the exercise had become academic. But, before referring the question to the Constitution bench, Justice A.S. Anand had said: “We are keeping open this issue to decide in a future situation.”

Under Article 156 of the Constitution, “the governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President” who “acts under the advice of the council of ministers headed by the Prime Minister”. However, such an exercise of power could not be arbitrary and shall be backed by reasoning, the PIL said.

The “reasoning” of Union home minister Shivraj Patil that the governors were removed because they belonged to a “different ideology” has given a good ground for judicial adjudication on the matter, a lawyer associated with the PIL said.

“This reasoning (of the home minister) cannot stand judicial scrutiny and the test of the Constitution,” he said, adding that “gross miscarriage of the office, violation of constitutional provisions, corruption and similar other reasons are strong grounds for recalling or removing a governor”.

The BJP, however, chose to distance itself from the petition, holding that it was an effort of a private member in public interest. But the party added that the dismissal of the governors was a fit case for “adjudication” by the Supreme Court.

BJP leader and former law minister Arun Jaitley was in the Supreme Court and said the matter should be debated in the court so that the constitutional provision could be settled without any ambiguity.

Some of the dismissed governors are also said to be exploring legal options.