In Fresh States vs Governors Row Over Bills, Supreme Court's Notice To Centre

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the centre and secretaries to the governors of Bengal and Kerala, on the basis of pleas - long-standing and frequent - by the states, claiming delays in granting assent to pending bills and referring those to President Droupadi Murmu.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud issued notices to the Home Ministry and senior aides of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and his Bengal counterpart, CV Ananda Bose.

"...bills are 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..." senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for the Kerala government, said.

" We are issuing notice to Additional Chief Secretary to Governor and Union," the court said.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi then spoke up, "I represent Bengal... we will frame common issues", to which the Chief Justice said, "Issue notice in the Bengal case as well (with) liberty to implead union government. We will issue notice to Governor and Union Home Ministry."

"Every time the court hears this... some bills are cleared," Mr Singhvi remarked, "Same happened during Tamil Nadu case as well."

The Supreme Court has given the centre and governors three weeks to respond. The court also directed petitioning states to submit a joint notice.

Kerala Government Vs Governor

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 called Mr Khan's move "manifestly arbitrary" and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

"Equally... advice by Union of India to the President to withhold assent for four bills, which are wholly within domain of the State, while disclosing no reason whatsoever, is also manifestly arbitrary and violates Article 14 of the Constitution," the state government had said.

These seven bills have been pending with the Governor for two years, the state added.

That was not the first time the state and Governor had clashed on this issue.

READ | "What Was Kerala Governor Doing For 2 Years On Bills": Court

In November the court questioned Governor Khan for "sitting" on the bills and said it might be forced to consider guidelines to establish when governors can refer bills to the President.

The court had then been told the Governor had cleared only one of eight pending bills.

Bengal Government-Governor Clash

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government - which has frequently clashed with Governor Bose - has claimed eight bills passed by the state Assembly have yet to be signed into law.

READ | No Pending Bills, As Claimed By Bengal Government: Governor

Mr Bose rubbished the charge, stating six of the eight had been referred to the President and the seventh is sub-judice. For the eighth, no state representative answered his questions, he said.

Tamil Nadu, Punjab's Governor Battles

At least two other opposition-ruled states - Tamil Nadu, where the DMK is in power, and Punjab, which is ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party - have moved the top court on this issue in the past.

In November last year the court came down heavily on Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi. "These bills have been pending since 2020. What was he doing for three years?" the court asked.

READ | "What Was Governor Doing For 3 Years?" Court On Tamil Nadu Bills

The state accused Mr Ravi, who, like all governors, is appointed by the ruling BJP, of deliberately delaying the bills and scuttling development by "undermining elected administration".

The strong observations came after Mr Ravi returned ten bills - two passed by the preceding government, run by then BJP allies AIADMK. A furious Assembly then held a special session to re-adopt all ten, which were sent back to the Governor for his assent.

And Mr Ravi, equally promptly, referred all 10 to the President.

READ | Court Raps Tamil Nadu Governor For Referring Bills To President

Four days later, while hearing an identical plea regarding Punjab's AAP government and Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the top court said, bills could not be kept pending indefinitely.

READ | Supreme Court Raps Tamil Nadu Guv For Referring Bills To President

Specifically, the court said a governor could not indefinitely delay or withhold assent, and that such actions undermine the legislative process and supremacy of elected representatives.

In Punjab's case, Mr Purohit had kept four bills on hold.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.