Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: On Friday, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre and the secretaries to the governors of Bengal and Kerala following long-standing complaints from the states about delays in granting assent to pending bills and referring them to President Droupadi Murmu. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud addressed the Home Ministry and senior aides of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose.
“Bills have been pending for eight months. I am challenging the reference of the bills to the President. There is confusion among governors… they keep bills pending. This is against the Constitution,” argued senior advocate KK Venugopal, representing the Kerala government.
“We are issuing notice to the Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor and the Union,” the court declared.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Bengal, added, “We will frame common issues,” prompting the Chief Justice to extend the notice to the Bengal case as well, allowing for the union government to be impleaded. “We will issue notice to the Governor and the Union Home Ministry.”
Mr. Singhvi remarked, “Every time the court hears this… some bills are cleared. The same happened during the Tamil Nadu case as well.”
The Supreme Court has given the Centre and governors three weeks to respond, directing the petitioning states to submit a joint notice.
In March, Kerala’s ruling CPIM moved the Supreme Court against the Governor’s decision to reserve seven bills for review by the President. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s government labeled Mr. Khan’s move “manifestly arbitrary” and a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. The state government argued that the Union’s advice to the President to withhold assent for four bills, which fall within the state’s domain, was also arbitrary and violated Article 14. The seven bills have been pending with the Governor for two years, the state added.
This is not the first clash between the state and Governor on this issue. In November, the court questioned Governor Khan for “sitting” on the bills and suggested it might need to establish guidelines for when governors can refer bills to the President. At that time, the Governor had cleared only one of eight pending bills.
Similarly, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government in Bengal has claimed eight bills passed by the state Assembly have yet to be signed into law. Governor Bose refuted the charge, stating six of the eight had been referred to the President, the seventh was sub-judice, and there had been no response from the state on the eighth.
Other opposition-ruled states, including Tamil Nadu and Punjab, have also moved the top court on similar issues. Last November, the court criticized Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi for delaying bills, with some pending since 2020. The state accused Mr. Ravi of undermining the elected administration. A similar situation occurred in Punjab, where Governor Banwarilal Purohit kept four bills on hold.
The Supreme Court has emphasized that governors cannot indefinitely delay or withhold assent to bills, as such actions undermine the legislative process and the supremacy of elected representatives.
