'Read Judgment In Punjab Governor's Case : Supreme Court To Kerala Governor On State's Plea Against Delay In Assenting Bills

The Supreme Court on Friday asked Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to refer to the recent judgment passed in the case related to Punjab Governor's inaction on bills and adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by the State of Kerala till next Tuesday (November 28).

When the matter was taken, Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for India KK Venugopal, appearing for the State of Kerala, told the bench that several bills sent for Governor's assent have been pending for the last two years.

"All the Ministers have met him(Governor). Chief Minister has met him several times", Venugopal said adding that eight bills are now pending.

CJI DY Chandrachud then told Attorney General for India R Venkataramani  : 

"We uploaded the order in Punjab matter last night. Ask the Governor's Secretary to look at the order and tell us on Tuesday what your response is."

It may be noted that the Supreme Court a similar petition filed by the State of Punjab had held that if a Governor decides to withhold assent to a Bill, then he has to return the bill to the legislature for reconsideration. The court had also orally stated that the trend of Governors acting on the bills only after the State Government approached the Court must stop.

In its order, the court held–

"If the Governor decides to withhold assent under the substantive part of Article 200, the logical course of action is to pursue the course indicated in the first proviso of remitting the Bill to the state legislature for reconsideration. In other words, the power to withhold assent under the substantive part of Article 200 must be read together with the consequential course of action to be adopted by the Governor under the first proviso."

The judgment stated that if such an interpretation is not adopted, then the Governor will be in a position to derail legislative process by simply saying he was withholding the assent.

In the judgment, the Court also reaffirmed that the Governor was an unelected Head of the State and could not use his constitutional powers to thwart the normal course of lawmaking by the State. It may be noted that in the Punjab matter, the Governor kept the bills pending by doubting the validity of the assembly session in which they were passed. Notably, the Governor did not 'declare' in any public notification that he is withholding his assent to the Bills. The Governor advised the Chief Minister to call for a fresh Monsoon/Winter Session and to forward an agenda setting out the specific business to be conducted so as to enable him to grant permission for the summoning of the House to transact the business. Aggrieved by the inaction of the Governor, the State of Punjab had invoked the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution.

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.

Background

The Government of Kerala approached the Supreme Court stating that the Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan, was delaying the consideration of bills that the State Assembly has passed. The State Government had contended that the Governor had failed in his constitutional duties by causing unreasonable delay in considering over 8 pending bills.

The following are the bills pending consideration of the Governor and the time elapsed since its presentation:

University Laws Amendment Bill (1st Amendment) 2021 -23 months

University Laws Amendment Bill (1st Amendment) 2021-23 months

University Laws Amendment Bill (2nd Amendment) 2021 [APJ Abdulkalam Technical University (Mal)] -23 months

Kerala Co-operative Societies Amendment Bill 2022 [MILMA] -14 months

University Laws Amendment Bill 2022 -12 months

Kerala Lokayukta Amendment Bill 2022-12 months

University Laws Amendment Bill 2022 -9 months

Public Health Bill 2021 -5 months

The writ filed by the State seeks a declaration from the Apex Court that the Governor is bound to dispose of every bill presented to him within a reasonable time and without any delay. The writ also seeks a specific declaration that the Governor has failed in the exercise of his constitutional powers and duties by delaying the consideration of the pending bills on time.

Case Title: The State Of Kerala And Anr. v Honble Governor For State Of Kerala And Ors. W.P.(C) No. 1264/2023