Karnataka CM discusses pending Bills with Governor

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot on Sunday and discussed the five bills passed by the Karnataka Legislature that are pending before President Droupadi Murmu, including one that seeks to provide 4 per cent reservation to Muslims in contracts.

Sources said Siddaramaiah will travel to New Delhi on Monday evening and is expected to meet Murmu on Tuesday. He is likely to discuss the issue of pending bills.

The chief minister’s push comes at a time when the relations between the government and the Raj Bhavan have become visibly strained, resulting in the return of several bills. 

The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which provides 4 per cent reservation to Muslims in contracts up to Rs 2 crore, was returned twice by the Governor.

The state government has sent the KTPP Bill and the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to the President on June 12.

Alongside these two bills, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2015, The Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2025 and The Notaries (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2025 are also pending before the President.

Recent SC ruling

These developments assume further importance in the light of the Supreme Court’s verdict in April in a case between the State of Tamil Nadu and the Governor of Tamil Nadu. In its order, the SC ruled that the “Governor does not possess any discretion in the exercise of his functions and has to mandatorily abide by the advice tendered to him by the Council of ministers”.

The ruling also set a 3-month deadline for the President to decide on Bills referred by Governors.

Bone of contention

While sending back the KTPP Bill, the Governor had argued that since category 2B of backward classes consists of only Muslims, “it may be construed as reservation for the community (religion) based on religion”. He referred to Supreme Court judgments to highlight that reservations cannot be provided based on religion.

The opposition BJP has slammed the Bill as “unconstitutional”.

The amendment to the Hindu Religious Institutions Act has also been contentious, as the BJP has opposed the provision in the Bill to allocate 10 per cent of the gross income of religious institutions with a gross income of over Rs 1 crore to the common pool.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill mandates the government to compulsorily provide primary school education in Kannada or the mother tongue of the kids.

Alongside these bills, the state government has also been asked to provide clarifications on The Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944 (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2024 and The Karnataka (Mineral Rights and Mineral Bearing Lands) Tax Bill, 2024. 

However, sources in the Parliamentary Affairs Department told DH that the government was likely to withdraw the Criminal Law ordinance, since those provisions are also covered under the three new criminal laws.