A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it would consider framing guidelines on how governors can exercise the discretion they enjoy under the Constitution.This was in response to a plea from the Kerala government’s counsel, former attorney general K K Venugopal, who argued for judicial intervention saying that the governor’s inaction was hurting people’s interests.
State govt vs Governors: Supreme Court raises questions over delay in Bill approval
Earlier, the bench had taken exception to the Kerala governor neither approving the bills nor sending them back to the legislature for reconsideration. “We find no reason why the governor decided to keep the bills pending for an inordinate period of time. We have held that the power of the governor cannot be utilised contrary to the power entrusted to the democratically elected state legislature. The power of the governor cannot be utilised to pause the lawmaking exercise of the legislature,” the bench said.
As the petition filed by the Kerala government pertained to the delay in clearing eight bills, seven of which have now been referred to the President and the governor has given assent to one, the court said the grievance raised in the petition was settled and the plea could be disposed of. However, Venugopal said the decision to refer the seven bills to the President was not “proper” and the court must examine when a bill could be referred to the President. He said the governor, instead of working along with the assembly, was acting as an adversary.
The court allowed the Kerala government to amend its plea and seek directions for guidelines on when a governor can refer bills to the President, disregarding protests by attorney general R Venkataramani.
“We have to keep the matter pending. We thought of disposing of the plea but it will not be proper because how can they file another plea seeking just guidelines. This is a live issue, let them amend the petition,” the bench said.
Acrimony between the chief minister and the governor of Kerala was apparent in the proceedings as the court’s suggestion that both sit together and sort out issues on clearing bills could not lead to a resolution. Venkataramani suggested that the governor could invite the CM and they could discuss over a cup of tea but his predecessor Venugopal said it was a face-saving exercise and did not accept the proposal.
The Kerala counsel said the governor should, instead, meet the minister who introduced the bill in the assembly to clarify any reservations.
“Let us hope that some political sagacity takes over the state and we hope some sagacity prevails. Otherwise, we are here to lay down the law and do our duty under the Constitution,” the bench said.
