38.6c New Delhi, India, Friday, August 01, 2025
Top Stories Supreme Court
Political NEWS Legislative Corner Celebstreet International Videos
Subscribe Contact Us
close
Judiciary

SC notice to Centre, Governors' Secys on plea by Kerala, WB on pending Bills

By Jhanak Sharma      26 July, 2024 02:45 PM      0 Comments
SC notice to Centre Governors Secys on plea by Kerala WB on pending Bills

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre and Additional Chief Secretary of the Governors of Kerala and West Bengal on separate petitions filed by the state governments alleging non action on Bills passed by the legislatures.

A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued notice to the respondents on the petitions by two state governments.

They questioned the delay in the Governors' decisions as they kept several bills pending for months, either refusing to assent them or reserving them for President's consideration.

"Let the reply be filed in three weeks and also a joint note be submitted from the States," the bench said upon submissions by senior advocates K K Venugopal and A M Singhvi, appearing for Kerala and West Bengal governments respectively.

Venugopal said that there was a need for the court to lay down guidelines on this issue as to when the Governors can return and refer Bills to the President.

He said this court should tell the Governor on when they can refuse to assent and when they can refer the Bills to the President.

Also Read: Journalists conducting stings without mala fide intent cannot be prosecuted: Kerala HC [Read Order]

"There is a confusion in the minds of various Governors in the country as to what their powers are in regard to assenting to bills," he said.

In Kerala case, he said out of eight Bills, two of them had been kept pending for 23 months, one for 15 months, another for 13 months and others for 10 months.

"Now, it is a very sad state of affairs. This is a confusion among the Governors that they keep bills pending.  This is against the Constitution," he said.

On behalf of the West Bengal government, Singhvi said that everytime the court hears the matter, some bills are cleared.

He said, the same thing happened in Tamil Nadu case as well.

In its writ petition, the Kerala government challenged the action or reconsideration of President Droupadi Murmu in withholding assent for four out of the seven Bills referred by the Kerala Governor.

It questioned the Governor's action of referring the Bills to the President, contending that none of the bills related to Centre-State relations and required the Presidential assent.

The West Bengal government, on the other hand, contended the Governor by not acting on eight Bills since 2022 affected rights of the residents of the state.

The Governor has to act "as soon as possible" as per the proviso of Article 200, meaning within a reasonable time, and further urgently and expeditiously without any avoidable delay, it said.

"The conduct of the Governor, not only threatens to defeat and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundation of our Constitution, including the rule of law and democratic good governance, but further proceeds to infringe upon the rights of the people of the State," the TMC government said.



Share this article:

About:

Jhanak is a lawyer by profession and legal journalist by passion. She graduated at the top of her cl...Read more

Follow:
FacebookTwitterLinkedinInstagram


Leave a feedback about this
Related Posts
View All

Another CBI Officer Investigating Rakesh Asthana Moves SC Against Transfer, Makes Startling Revelations Another CBI Officer Investigating Rakesh Asthana Moves SC Against Transfer, Makes Startling Revelations

After A.K. Bassi, another CBI officer who was investigating corruption allegations against Special Director Rakesh Asthana moved the Supreme Court.

Ayodhya verdict: SC rules in favour of Ram Lalla, Sunni Waqf Board gets alternate land Ayodhya verdict: SC rules in favour of Ram Lalla, Sunni Waqf Board gets alternate land

SC bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi has allotted the dispute site to Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, while directing the government to allot an alternate 5 acre land within Ayodhya to Sunni Waqf Board to build a mosque.

Supreme Court: Money Spent On Judiciary Less Than 1% In All States Except Delhi Supreme Court: Money Spent On Judiciary Less Than 1% In All States Except Delhi

The court guided all states to document their response to the commission's report within four weeks. If any of the states fail to file a response, it will be presumed that they have no objections to the recommendations made by the commission, the court said.

Supreme Court Top Panel Names Chief Justices for Bombay, Orissa and Meghalaya High Courts Supreme Court Top Panel Names Chief Justices for Bombay, Orissa and Meghalaya High Courts

On April 18, 2020, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended new Chief Justices for three High Courts. Justice Dipankar Datta was proposed as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, succeeding Justice B.P. Dharmadhikari. Justice Biswanath Somadder was nominated as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, while Justice Mohammad Rafiq was recommended for transfer as Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.

TRENDING NEWS

sc-directs-telangana-speaker-to-decide-disqualification-petitions
Trending Judiciary
SC directs Telangana Speaker to decide disqualification petitions against 10 rebel BRS MLAs within 3 months [Read Order]

SC orders Telangana Speaker to decide disqualification pleas against 10 rebel BRS MLAs within 3 months, stressing swift action on political defections.

31 July, 2025 04:58 PM
sc-to-first-consider-maintainability-of-review-against-2022-judgment-on-eds-powers-under-pmla
Trending Judiciary
SC to first consider maintainability of review against 2022 judgment on ED's powers under PMLA

SC to first decide if review pleas on ED powers under PMLA are maintainable; hearing on Karti Chidambaram’s plea set for August 6.

01 August, 2025 10:58 AM

TOP STORIES

delhi-govt-files-plea-in-sc-to-recall-2018-ban-on-older-vehicles
Trending Judiciary
Delhi govt files plea in SC to recall 2018 ban on older vehicles

Delhi govt moves SC to recall 2018 ban on 10-yr-old diesel, 15-yr-old petrol vehicles, citing lack of data and need for emission-based policy.

26 July, 2025 05:17 PM
sc-issues-guidelines-to-be-implemented-as-law-to-prevent-students-suicides
Trending Judiciary
SC issues guidelines to be implemented as law to prevent students suicides [Read Judgment]

SC issues 15-point guidelines to prevent student suicides; directs states to notify rules for coaching centres, mental health support, and monitoring.

26 July, 2025 05:30 PM
sc-lawyers-body-urges-cji-to-prohibit-advocates-creating-video-reels-in-premises-sharing-of-court-proceedings-clips
Trending Legal Insiders
SC lawyers body urges CJI to prohibit advocates creating video reels in premises; sharing of court proceedings clips [Read Letter]

SC lawyers urge CJI to ban video reels, photos & court clip sharing; say such acts breach Bar rules, risk security & distort judicial proceedings.

26 July, 2025 05:44 PM
delay-in-assent-to-bills-sc-allows-kerala-to-withdraw-pleas-against-state-guv
Trending Judiciary
Delay in assent to bills: SC allows Kerala to withdraw pleas against state Govt

SC allows Kerala govt to withdraw pleas against Governor over delay in bill assent, citing Tamil Nadu verdict; Centre opposed plea withdrawal.

26 July, 2025 05:52 PM

ADVERTISEMENT


Join Group

Signup for Our Newsletter

Get Exclusive access to members only content by email