Kerala has moved the Supreme Court seeking to lay down guidelines on the circumstances under which the Governor may reserve Bills presented to him for the consideration of the President, withhold his assent or return it to the Legislative Assembly.
The State recently raised the plea through the amendment made to its earlier writ petition filed before the top court.
Kerala has also sought the intervention of the top court to interpret the phrase “as soon as possible” in the first proviso to Article 200 of the Constitution on the timeline applicable to the disposal of the Bills presented to the Governor.
Article 200 prescribes that the Governor may exercise the option of sending the Bills to the President, withhold the assent or return it to the Assembly as soon as possible.
Kerala pointed out that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan sat on eight Bills that were passed by the State Legislature even up to three years. Later, the Governor sent seven of the eight Bills for the consideration of the President without examining each one of them and giving reasons as to why it was necessary to reserve them. The Governor resorted to this step after the court issued a notice on November 20, it said.
C.K. Sasi, standing counsel for the State, also re-emphasised the plea to declare that the Governor failed to exercise his powers and duties under the Constitution through his inaction on the Bills that were presented for his consideration.
Kerala has also sought a directive of the court to the Governor to dispose of the pending Bills without further delay.
In other States too
Kerala also pointed out that several States were facing the similar situation where the Governors were keeping the Bills pending for inordinate periods and without exercising the power under Article 200 of the Constitution, thus rendering the State Legislatures ineffective.
The Supreme Court is likely to consider the case when it resumes functioning after the Christmas holidays.
