West Bengal Govt Approaches Supreme Court Against Governor Withholding Assent For Bills

The State of West Bengal has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the Governor for withholding assent on eight bills. In the writ petition filed under Article 32, the State contended that the Governor's refusal to give assent to the bills without stating any reason was contrary to the mandate of Article 200 of the Constitution.

Advocate Astha Sharma, appearing for the State, mentioned the petition on Friday before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for urgent listing. CJI agreed to consider the request.

The State submitted that the Governor's omission threatened to "defeat and subvert" democratic good governance and infringed upon the rights of the people of the State to the welfare measures sought to be implemented through the bills.

The Bills on which Governor's assent is pending are :

1. The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 passed on 13.06.2022.
2. The West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences(Amendment) Bill 2022 passed on 15.06.2022
3. The West Bengal Private University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 passed on 14.06.2022
4. The West Bengal Krishi Viswavidyalaya Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 passed on 17.06.2022.
5. The West Bengal University of Health Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2022 passed on 21.06.2022.
6. The Aliah University (Amendment) Bill, 2022 passed on 23.06.2022.
7. The West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed on 28.07.2023.
8. The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed on 04.08.2023

The first six bills were sent for assent when Jagdeep Dhankhar was the Governor. The last two bills were passed after CV Ananda Bose assumed the post of Governor.

In the petition, the State referred to the direction passed by the Supreme Court in the case against Telangana Governor that Governors should return the bills as soon as possible in terms of the mandate of Article 200. Reference is also made to the direction passed in the case against the Punjab Governor that Governors cannot veto the legislature by simply sitting over the bills.

Last year, the Governors of Tamil Nadu and Kerala had also faced criticism from the Supreme Court for not acting on bills.

"Despite the Governor for the State of West Bengal being aware of the decisions of this Hon'ble Court in similar circumstances for the States of Telangana and Punjab, several crucial Bills have been lying dormant with the Governor of the State since 2022," the State of West Bengal submitted in its petition.