Telangana Governor Gives Assent To 3 Bills; Refers 2 To President; 3 Under Active Consideration : Statement In Supreme Court

In the plea filed by Telangana Government seeking directions to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to clear ten bills passed by the legislative assembly, which were awaiting her assent, the Supreme Court on Monday was informed of the updated position of the bills, some of which had been assented to by the Governor. The matter was listed before a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala. 

During the course of hearings, the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, placed on the record the information which he has received from the Secretary to the Governor of Telangana on 9 April, 2023 in regard to the position of the Bills which were submitted to the Governor for assent. 

While stating that the Governor may assent to the bills, SG Mehta said–

"Please see the letters I've received. Governor may pass the bills. I can't make a statement but I'll pursue it."

As per the statement, assent of the Governor were given for the following Bills:

1. The Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 

2. The Telangana Municipalities (Amendment Bill), 2023 

3. The Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2023 

Further, the following Bills were reserved for consideration and assent of the President by the Governor:

1. The University of Forestry Telangana Bill, 2022 

2. The Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022

Finally, the following bills were said to be under active consideration of the Governor:

1. The Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 

2. The Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 

3. The Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022

The statement also indicated that certain clarifications had been sought by the Governor from the State Government in regard to Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill 2023 and that the Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and Regulation of Leases) (Amendment) Bill 2022 had not been submitted as yet by the Law Department to the Governor for consideration.

Through the petition, K. Chandrashekar Rao led BRS government had accused the Governor of "sitting" on the Bills. Soundararajan had dismissed the allegations, stating that she was closely analyzing the Bills. Seemingly in response to the petition, she tweeted that friendly official visits & interactions would have been more helpful but the Chief Secretary did not approach her. "Rajbhavan is nearer than Delhi" she said.

Case Title: State of Telangana v. Secy To Her Excellency The Hon'ble Governor For The State of Telangana | Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 333/2023

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