Tamil Nadu, Punjab Govts move SC against Governors, Kerala follows suit

New Delhi [India], November 2 : The Kerala Government has approached the Supreme Court against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan for delay in clearing the bills.
Earlier this week, the Tamil Nadu Government and Punjab Government approached the top court against the Governors over a delay in the clearance of various bills of the state.
The State of Kerala submitted that a Governor who acts in gross disregard and violation of the provisions of the Constitution cannot be said to be functioning in the discharge of his duties as a Governor, since, no Governor is entitled to violate the provisions of the Constitution, whether through his action or inaction.
It is no part of the powers and duties of the office of the Governor to refuse to deal with Bills, pending, in this case, with him since November 2021, while, at the same time granting assent to a Bill presented to him in September 2023. Such inaction is wholly outside the Constitution. Equally, his inaction, being ultra vires the Constitution, can in no way be said to be in discharge of, or in purported discharge of, his duties as Governor, the state government said.
Kerala government has moved a writ petition in the Supreme Court against Governor Khan for inaction on his part regarding eight Bills passed by the state legislature and presented to him for his assent under Article 200 of the Constitution.
"Of these, three Bills have remained pending with the Governor for more than 2 years, and 3 more in excess of a full year," the petition said.
The conduct of the Governor, as would presently be demonstrated, threatens to defeat and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundations of our Constitution, including the rule of law and democratic good governance, apart from defeating the rights of the people of the State to the welfare measures sought to be implemented through the Bills, the state government stated in its petition to the top court.
The pending Bills include the University Laws Amendment Bill, the Kerala Co-operative Societies Amendment Bill, the Kerala Lokayukta Amendment Bill and the Public Health Bill.
"Article 200 of the Constitution casts a solemn duty on the Governor of a State by requiring that on the presentation to him of any Bill passed by the State Legislature, he "shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President," the petition read.
"The words "as soon as possible" necessarily mean that not only should pending bills be disposed of within a reasonable time, but further that these Bills have to be dealt with urgently and expeditiously without any avoidable delay. This phrase conveys the clear intention of the Constitution that the Governor has to treat the Bill presented to him with a sense of urgency. The urgency should normally mean a few weeks and nothing more, as the State Legislature, through its elected representatives, has debated a Bill and has finally decided that the public interest would require, a part of the governance of the State, to have the Bills made into law as soon as possible," the petition said.
"Grave injustice is being done to the people of the State, as also to its representative democratic institutions (i.e. the State Legislature and the Executive) by the Governor, by keeping Bills pending for long periods of time, including 3 Bills for longer than 2 years. The Governor appears to be of the view that granting assent or otherwise dealing with Bills is a matter entrusted to him in his absolute discretion, to decide whenever he pleases. This is a complete subversion of the Constitution," it stated.
The petition further mentioned, "Each of the Bills that are pending with the Governor is in the public interest for the people of Kerala, inter alia, by improving the state of public health infrastructure to tackle communicable diseases [by applying the lessons learnt during the COVID pandemic], by making State University laws consistent with Central laws to create uniform national standards."
"The failure of the Governor to act, thus, affects the rights which would accrue to the people of the State. The conduct of the Governor in keeping Bills pending for long and indefinite periods of time is also manifestly arbitrary and violates Article 14 of the Constitution. Additionally, it also defeats the rights of the people of the State of Kerala under Article 21 of the Constitution, by denying them the benefits of welfare legislation enacted by the State Assembly," the petition said.
In the petition, the Kerala Government urged to declare that the Governor is bound to dispose of every bill presented to him within a reasonable time, considering the democratic process and the needs of the people to have welfare measures and other laws affecting the public interest, means to be disposed of "forthwith" or without any delay.
The petitioner urged the top court to declare that, in this case, the Governor has failed in the exercise of his constitutional powers and duties.
The petitioner sought to issue directions to the governor to dispose of the pending bills without any further delay.
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier moved the top court accusing Governor RN Ravi of obstructing the Legislative Assembly from carrying out its duties.
In its petition, the state government alleged that the governor has not only kept multiple bills pending but has also not sanctioned the investigation and prosecution in several corruption cases.
Also, the Punjab Government moved the Supreme Court against Governor Banwarilal Purohit for withholding his approval of Bills.
However, following this, Governor Purohit on Tuesday gave his assent to two Bills including The Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023.