Kerala moves SC against President withholding assent to its four bills
| Date :24-Mar-2024 |
NEW DELHI,
IN AN unprecedented 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 C K 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 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 Bhawan 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.