Kerala government moves Supreme Court against President and governor over pending bills
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Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has taken its grievances regarding pending bills to the Supreme Court, citing actions by both the President and the state governor as "manifestly arbitrary" and unconstitutional.
According to the state government, seven bills passed by the Kerala legislature have been left pending by the governor without any valid explanation, thus rendering the legislative assembly ineffective in its functioning.
In its petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the state government highlighted the lack of reasons provided by the President for withholding assent to four out of the seven bills referred by the governor. This action, the government argued, violates Article 14 of the Constitution, as well as Articles 200 and 201.
The government contended that the governor's delay in addressing the pending bills for as long as two years has undermined the functioning of the legislature and thwarted the purpose of these bills, which include measures for the public interest.
Furthermore, the plea suggested that the governor's actions might have been influenced by public criticisms made against the state government and the Chief Minister, adding that the governor failed to fulfill constitutional duties by referring bills to the President without addressing the prolonged delays.
Despite the Supreme Court's intervention, only one bill received assent from the governor, while the remaining seven were referred to the President, who subsequently withheld assent to four of them.
The plea emphasized that the governor's failure to mention the prolonged delays in referring the bills to the President obscured the true reasons behind the delays and rendered the legislative process ineffective.
The state government argued that the governor's actions amounted to a deliberate evasion of constitutional duties and undermined the provision of Article 200, which stipulates that bills should be referred "as soon as possible."
In light of these issues, the government requested the Supreme Court to declare that the pending bills be returned to the governor for proper disposition in accordance with constitutional principles and laws, citing the importance of constitutional morality in this matter.