Kerala govt moves Supreme Court against President withholding assent to its bills

PTI

New Delhi, March 23

In an unusual move, the Kerala government has petitioned the Supreme Court against President Droupadi Murmu withholding assent to four bills passed by the state assembly.

The plea, filed through advocate CK Sasi, said the matter relates to the acts of the Kerala governor in reserving seven bills, which he was required to deal with himself, to the President. Not one of the seven bills had anything to do with the Centre-state relations.

The state government said these bills had been pending with the governor for as long as about two years and his action “subverted” the functioning of the state legislature, rendering its very existence “ineffective and otiose”.

“The bills include public interest bills which are for the public good, and even these have been rendered ineffective by the Governor not dealing with each one of them “as soon as possible” as required by the proviso to Article 200,” the plea said.

The state government said that on February 23 and 29, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed it that the president has withheld assent to four of the seven bills–University Laws (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021, the Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill, 2022.

The petition urged the court to declare as unconstitutional the President not granting assent to these bills without assigning a reason.

The Constitution is silent on how much time the president can take in granting assent to a bill passed by a state legislature and referred to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for presidential consideration or for denying consent.

The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has made the Union government, the Secretary to the President of India, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and his additional secretary the parties to the case.

Article 361 of the Constitution says the president, or the governor of a state shall not be answerable to any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of his office or for any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise and performance of those powers and duties.

Besides several other reliefs, the state government has urged the court to declare as “illegal” Governor Arif Mohammed Khan reserving a total of seven bills, including these four, for the consideration of the President.

“The conduct of the Governor in keeping Bills pending for long and indefinite periods of time, and thereafter reserving the Bills for the consideration of the President without any reasons relatable to the Constitution is manifestly arbitrary and violates Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution,” the plea said.

Equally, it added, the aid and advice tendered by the Union of India to the President to withhold assent to the four bills, which are wholly within the domain of the state, while disclosing no reason whatsoever, is also manifestly arbitrary and violates Article 14.

“Additionally, the actions impugned defeat the rights of the people of the State of Kerala under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution, by denying them the benefits of welfare legislation enacted by the State Assembly,” it said.

The plea said not dealing with the bills presented for assent for periods as long as 24 months, or seven months to sixteen months, the governor has rendered ineffective and otiose the functioning of a limb of the State under the Constitution, the legislative assembly.

The actions of the governor are clearly lacking in bona fides and in good faith, it said.

The plea said the governor has often been addressing the media and making public criticism of the state government and the chief minister in particular.

“The actions of the Union Government, in advising the President of India to withhold assent to Bills which had been passed by the state legislative assembly as long as 11 to 24 months back, and which were wholly within the domain of the state government, subverts and disrupts the federal structure of the Constitution of India, and is a grave encroachment into the domain entrusted to the state under the Constitution,” it said.

While the Constitution is silent about when the president should give or deny assent to a bill, Article 200 says: When a Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of a State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, has been passed by both Houses of the Legislature of the State, it shall be presented to the Governor and the Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President.

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