On Friday (July 26), the Supreme Court issued notices in response to petitions from the Kerala and West Bengal governments, challenging their respective governors’ delays in assenting to bills by referring them to the President. Both states claim their governors have held onto eight bills for over a year without explanation. The bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, directed the Union of India, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Additional Chief Secretary to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, to respond.
Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, representing Kerala, emphasized the urgency for the Court to set guidelines on when Governors can return or refer bills. He noted that two of the eight bills have been pending for 23 months, another for 15 months, and the remaining for over 10 months. Venugopal argued that such prolonged delays undermine the Constitution and disrupt governance. Chief Justice Chandrachud agreed to issue a notice on the petition and requested Venugopal, along with Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, who represents West Bengal in a similar case, to identify the main issues for the Court’s consideration.
Kerala’s writ petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, challenges both President Droupadi Murmu’s decision to withhold assent for four of the seven bills referred by the Kerala Governor and the Governor’s act of referring the bills to the President. These bills include amendments related to State Universities and Cooperative Societies, which Kerala argues do not require Presidential assent as they do not affect Centre-State relations. After the Supreme Court issued a notice on November 20 last year, the Governor referred the seven bills to the President. On February 29, 2024, the President withheld assent for four bills: the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021; the Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022; and the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill, 2022.
Post Your Comments