'Matter Of Serious Concern' : Supreme Court On Tamil Nadu Governor Not Clearing Bills & Files

The Supreme Court on Friday (November 10) expressed concerns at the Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi sitting over several bills passed by the legislature and files submitted by the State Government.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud noted that as many as 12 bills are pending with the Governor. Also, several decisions taken by the Government regarding the grant of premature release to prisoners, sanction for prosecution and appointment of members to the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission are pending with the Governor.

"The issues raise a matter of serious concern," observed the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, in the order while issuing notice to the Union Government on the writ petition filed by the Tamil Nadu Government. Posting the matter to November 20, the bench also required the presence of the Attorney General for India or the Solicitor General of India for assistance.

The State Government told the bench that 12 bills passed by Legislative Assembly between 2020 and 2023 are pending with the Governor though they were submitted for assent between 13 Jan 2020-28 April 2023. Four files submitted to the Governor between 10 April 2022-15 May 2023 for according sanction of prosecution of various crimes involving alleged moral turpitude on part of public servants and 54 files for premature release of prisoners submitted to Governor between 14 Aug 2023 and 28 June 2023 are pending. Also, since the proposals for appointment of TNPSC members are pending, the Commission is working with 4 members instead of 14.

Senior Advocates Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mukul Rohatgi and P Wilson appeared for the State Government. The lawyers highlighted that as per Article 200, the Governor has to return the bills "as soon as possible".

It may be recalled that in an earlier hearing related to a similar petition filed by the State of Punjab, the court had orally stated that the trend of Governors acting on the bills only after the State Government approached the Court must stop. The States of Punjab and Tamil Nadu are not the only ones that have approached the Supreme Court with grievances against the respective Governors in the states. Another petition by the State of Kerala seeks similar relief against the Governor of Kerala. Earlier, a similar situation had happened in the State of Telangana, where the Governor acted on the pending bills only after the Government filed a writ petition.

Case Title: The State Of Tamil Nadu v The Governor Of Tamilnadu And Anr W.P.(C) No. 1239/2023

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