"Illegal": Kerala Government Takes Governor To Supreme Court In Bills Row

The Kerala government on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to direct Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to clear bills passed by the legislature in a timely manner, as the long stand-off between the two over eight bills - three of which have been pending for over two years - reaches the highest court in the land. 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's government has sought "appropriate orders from the Honourable Court in relation to inaction on the part of the Honourable Governor in relation to as many as eight bills", according to the petition filed before the top court.

In its petition the Kerala government said "the Governor is bound to dispose of every bill presented to within a reasonable time, which, considering the democratic process and the needs of the people to have welfare measures and other laws affecting public interest, menas to be disposed of forthwith..."  The petition said the Governor had, therefore, "failed in the exercise of his constitutional powers and duties".

There are eight bills pending with the Governor, three of which have been on his desk for around two years and another three for over 12 months. One of the pending bills is to remove Mr Khan as the Chancellor of state-run universities. The Governor had earlier accused the ruling party of appointing family members of party leaders to key posts.

The government petition points out the Governor had "been satisfied (with) legislative competence of State...". This, the government said, meant Mr Khan "has to take recourse to the only other option available... granting assent to the Bill".

"Therefore, the continued inaction of the Governor on the aforementioned Bills, is arbitrary, illegal and amounts to abdication of Constitutional responsibility," the government argued.

Tensions between Chief Minister Vijayan's government and Mr Khan have been building up over the past few years and the two have sparred on numerous instances.

Most recently, early last month Mr Khan accused Mr Vijayan of shirking his constitutional duty - to brief the Head of State. The Governor told reporters the Chief Minister "does not come to Raj Bhavan... instead sends Cabinet Ministers and officials".

Escalation of tensions between the Kerala government and Governor comes daysa after a similar row in Tamil Nadu, where the ruling DMK has accused Governor RN Ravi of intentionally delaying the bills sent to him for clearance.

READ | Tamil Nadu Accuses Governor Of "Undermining Will Of People", Goes To Court

The Tamil Nadu government claimed bills and orders forwarded to Mr Ravi were not being cleared on time. Twelve bills, four prosecution sanctions and files relating to the premature release of 54 prisoners are still pending, the government said.

In April this year, while considering a similar petition filed by Telangana against its Governor, the Supreme Court had observed that Governors should return the bills "as soon as possible" in terms of Article 200.