Governors must act even before matter reaches court, says Supreme Court
'There is a little bit of soul searching to be done by both the sides,' says a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud; further hearing on Friday
Governors must act even before matter reaches court, says Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday disapproved of governors sitting over bills passed by state assemblies, saying they must act before the matter reached the top court.
“Why does the party have to come to the Supreme Court? Governors act only when matters reach the Supreme Court. This has to stop. You come to the Supreme Court then the Governor starts acting. This shouldn’t be,” CJI DY Chandrachud said.
The top court posted the Punjab government’s petition against the alleged delay on the part of Governor Banwarilal Purohit in granting assent to bills passed by the state assembly for hearing on Friday.
Pointing out that a similar situation had arisen in Telangana as well, where the Governor acted on the pending bills only after the state government filed a petition, the Bench said, “Governors should not be oblivious of the fact that they are not elected authorities.”
The CJI noted that the assembly was adjourned sine die on March 22, 2022 without being prorogued and it was reconvened. Pointing out that the budget session virtually merged with the monsoon session, the CJI wondered if it was the scheme of the Constitution.
“There is a little bit of soul searching to be done by both the sides…”We are the oldest democracy and these issues must be sorted between the Chief Minister and the Governor,” the CJI said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Bench that the Governor had taken “appropriate decisions” on the bills and said he would come up with the exact status of the bills by Friday.
Mehta said astonishing things were happening. “Never before has this happened in the constitutional history of the country. The assembly was deliberately not being prorogued and was being kept open to abuse people and claim privilege.”
On behalf of the state government, senior counsel AM Singhvi and Advocate General Gurminder Singh said important bills, including those relating to fiscal management, amendments to the GST, gurdwara management, etc, were pending with the Governor, affecting governance in the state.
Singh said four bills passed by the Punjab Assembly on July 24, 2023 were sent to the Governor but had not been dealt with by him under Article 200 of the Constitution.
Similar stories
Comments are closed.