Informist, Friday, Jul 26, 2024

--SC notice to govt on President withholding assent to state Bills

--SC notice to Kerala, Bengal governors' office on withholding assent

--CONTEXT: Kerala, Bengal moved SC against President, governors

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the offices of the governors of Kerala and West Bengal after the two state governments challenged the President and the governors for withholding assent to state Bills. The Kerala and West Bengal governments have also contested the governors' move to keep the Bills pending for a long and indefinite period, and later reserving them for consideration of the President.

The governments are against the President's withholding of assent to the Bills without giving any reason. The petitioner said the President's inaction was highly arbitrary and in violation of Articles 14, 200 and 201 of the Constitution.

Advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Kerala government, said, "This confusion in the minds of various governors in the country as to what their powers are in regard to assenting to Bills. In the present case, out of eight Bills, two of them had been kept pending for 23 months. One for 15 months. Another for 13 months. And others for 10 months. Now, it is a very sad state of affairs. The Constitution itself is being rendered otiose." He added that the top court needs to tell the governors when they can refuse to assent to bills, and when they can refer to the President.

Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government, said that every time the top court hears the case regarding governors, some bills are cleared. This is the same case in Kerala as well, he added.

The Kerala government has challenged the action of President Droupadi Murmu in withholding assent to four of the seven Bills referred to her by the governor. The Bills were related to amendments to laws concerning state universities and cooperative societies. "The reservation of the Bills by the Governor after keeping them pending for up to 24 months was a deliberate attempt to avoid carrying out his constitutional duty and functions under Article 200 of the Constitution. Hence, the reference of the Bills to the President has to be held to be unconstitutional," said the state government.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has filed a fresh petition against the state's governor for delaying the grant of assent to bills cleared by the state legislative assembly. In April, the top court had issued a notice in a similar case regarding the Bengal governor in a public interest litigation filed by Sayan Mukherjee. "Issue notice in the West Bengal case as well. Liberty to implead Union government. The amendment may be carried out during the course of the day. We will issue notice to the Governor and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs," the court said in an order today. End

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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