DF split on issue of Fazal ouster

MUMBAI: Governor Mohammed Fazal''s refusal to sign the bill for the state government''s takeover of the cash-rich Saibaba temple at Shirdi and his unorthodox style of functioning appear to have sparked differences within the state government on the issue of asking the Centre to sack him. The Congress says the governor is not only "unco-operative, but also very expensive'''', and party sources hinted that he should be shown the door.(Fazal is a nominee of the erstwhile NDA government.) But Congress suspects that the governor is being backed on the Shirdi temple issue by a senior leader of the NCP with enormous clout in Delhi.
One of the temple trustees is believed to be close to this NCP leader, and Congress sources said that was why the NCP had sought to prevent the bill from becoming law. "The NCP had reluctantly supported the bill in the legislature. Now it is trying to sabotage it through the backdoor,'''' a Congress leader complained.
The Shirdi temple has a reserve fund of Rs 193 crore. Fazal is reported to be unconvinced by the explanation given by the government to the queries he has raised about the temple takeover. Sources said the governor was likely to refer the bill to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for his assent. Two earlier bills for the takeover of the Pandharpur and Siddhivinayak temples had been referred to the President by the governors concerned, and Fazal is likely to cite these as precedents.
Article 200 of the constitution says that when a bill is passed by the legislature, it should be presented to the governor and he should either give his assent, withhold it, or refer the bill to the President for his consideration, especially when the proposed legislation deals with a subject in the concurrent list. Trust affairs fall in the concurrent list, a trustee of the Shirdi temple said. Legally, therefore, Fazal is empowered to refer the Shirdi bill to the President.
But by the time the bill is returned by the President, the code of conduct for the assembly polls is likely to be in force, in which case the proposal cannot be implemented.
Meanwhile, the inquiry ordered by the charity commissioner into the affairs of the Shirdi trust two years ago is still to take off.
According to the Congress, Fazal has run up quite a bill by getting the government to sanction Rs 11.30 crore for construction of a 14-storey building in the Raj Bhavan complex. Earlier, he had asked the government for several lakhs for building a club in the Raj Bhavan complex. He is now asking the government to fund the Tembu lift irrigation scheme in Sangli by diverting a part of the Rs 1,000 cr loan given by the LIC. The project will cost Rs 300 cr.