Why Governors Act On Bills Only After State Govts Approach Courts? This Has To Stop : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday(November 6) expressed anguish at the fact that State Governments are forced to approach the Courts seeking decisions by the Governors on the bills passed by the legislature.

The Court orally said that the trend of Governors acting on the bills only after the State Government approached the Court must stop

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud made these oral submissions while hearing a writ petition filed by the State of Punjab aggrieved by the inaction of Governor Banwarilal Purohit on seven bills. During the hearing, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta informed the bench that the Governor has taken "appropriate decisions" on the bills and undertook to convey the details by Friday.

At this juncture, CJI said :

"Why does the party have to come to Supreme Court?  Governors act only when matters reach the Supreme Court. This has to stop. You come to Supreme Court then the Governor starts acting. This shouldn't be," CJI DY Chandrachud said pointing out that a similar situation happened in the State of Telangana as well, where the Governor acted on the pending bills only after the Government filed a writ petition.

"Governors should not be oblivious of the fact that they are not elected authorities", CJI stated.

Senior Advocate Dr.Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the State of Punjab, said that important bills, including those relating to fiscal management, amendments to the GST, Gurudwara management etc., were sent for Governor's consideration in July and the inaction on the bills have affected the governance. He added that the Governor deferred the consideration of bills citing irregularities.

The CJI also voiced criticism about the manner of convening the house, pointing out that the House was adjourned sine-die in March but was reconvened in June.

"The assembly was summoned on March, adjourned sina die. The Speaker reconvened the sitting of assembly in June. Is that really the scheme under constitution?... You have to hold a session in 6 months right..." CJI said.

Solicitor General said such a practice is against the Constitutional scheme, as the house, once adjourned, cannot be reconvened in such a manner. He said that house is reconvened so that the members can "get together and abuse people and claim privilege".

CJ said that both the government and the governor have to do a bit of "soul searching". "We are the oldest democracy and these issues must be sorted between the CM and the Governor," CJI said.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for India KK Venugopal mentioned a similar petition filed by the State of Kerala against the Governor. "The Governor does not take action on the Bills that have been passed for the welfare of the people. And after reports were published about the State filing the petition, he says he will see it in the Court," Venugopal said requesting the bench to post Kerala's petition on Friday.

The bench, also comprising Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, agreed to post the petitions filed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu on Friday along with Punjab's petition. Regarding Punjab's case, Solicitor General agreed to file a status report updating about the situation. Advocate General of Punjab clarified that out of the seven pending bills, Governor has now given assent to two pending bills.

Background

The Punjab Governor had refrained from giving his assent to the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023. These bills were slated for discussion in the Assembly during the session on October 20-21. The Governor had expressed that the October 20-21 session, presented as an extension of the budget session, was “bound to be illegal”. Consequently, the Punjab Government shortened the two-day session on October 20.

In addition to these, four more bills, namely the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Amendment Bill, 2023, are pending the Governor's approval. These bills were passed during the session held on June 19-20 in the Punjab Assembly, which the Governor had labeled as “patently illegal”.

On November 1, Purohit granted his assent to the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023. However, in a letter to the Chief Minister on October 19, the Governor declined to endorse three money Bills. Approval from the Governor is necessary to present money Bills in the Assembly.

Case Title: The State Of Punjab v Principal Secretary To The Governor Of Punjab And Anr. W.P.(C) No. 1224/2023

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