New Delhi, July 26 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the West Bengal and Kerala governments in connection with petitions filed by these states alleging delay by their respective Governors in clearing bills passed by Assembly.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra asked the Additional Chief Secretary to Governor of states and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to file their response within three weeks.
The Bench, while hearing a fresh petition filed by the West Bengal government accusing Governor CV Ananda Bose of delaying the grant of assent to bills cleared by the State Legislative Assembly, issued directions to all these states and the Centre.
The State of Kerala had already filed a similar plea against its Governor Arif Mohammad Khan.
Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, appearing on behalf of the Kerala government, told the court that the Kerala Governor has been acting unconstitutionally.
Venugopal pleaded, “The bills are pending for 8 months. I am challenging reference to the President himself. This is a confusion among Governors that they keep bills pending. This is against the Constitution.”
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that similar issues were also raised in the West Bengal government’s petition against Governor Bose.
Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, also representing the West Bengal government, told the court that soon after this matter was mentioned before the Apex Court, the Governor indicated that only some bills are reserved for clearance now.
“Every time the Court hears it, some bills are cleared. The same happened during the Tamil Nadu case as well,” Singhvi added.
The Court then issued notices and said that it would seek a response in the matter from the Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor as well as the Central government.
