Supreme Court questions Tamil Nadu governor's three-year delay in clearing bills
Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice on a plea filed by the Kerala government that alleged undue delay on the part of the governor in clearing Bills passed by the state legislature.
Appearing for the Kerala government, former Attorney General KK Venugopal alleged that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has signed three Ordinances, but when it comes to a Bill, he delays the signing for about two years. The senior lawyer argued that the Governor is yet to grant assent to eight Bills that were passed by the state legislature.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud issued the notice on the plea filed by the state government.
The bench asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to assist the court in the matter.
In a related development, the bench questioned the delay of three years by Tamil Nadu's governor in granting assent to Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu legislature.
Speaking for the bench, the CJI said, «What was the governor doing for the past three years...He (Governor) acted only after the Court xissued notice.»
The remark was made after the bench was informed that the Tamil Nadu governor had returned the Bills to the state legislature.
The bench was also told that the TN government convened a special sitting on Saturday and decided to re-introduce 10 Bills which were sent back by Governor RN Ravi without reasons.
The SC, at the last hearing, had taken strong exception to Governor Ravi refusing to give assent to as many as 12 Bills passed by the state Assembly. The Tamil Nadu government was represented by another former Attorney General, Mukul Rohatgi.
He said the TN governor withheld assent without citing any reasons.
The bench noted that the governor decided to withhold assent to the Bills only
