SC directs Kerala Governor's Secretary to review Punjab order in govt vs Governor row

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said the Kerala Governor’s Secretary should look at the order passed by the court on a plea by the Bhagwant Mann government against the Punjab Governor’s inaction in clearing the bills passed by the state assembly.

In the case of Punjab, the court ruled that the Governor, as part of the legislature, cannot withhold assent to Bills without further recourse, essentially vetoing the functioning of the legislative domain by a duly elected legislature.

In its separate plea, the Kerala government claimed as many as 8 bills passed by the state legislature and presented to the Governor for his assent under Article 200 of the Constitution were pending for over two years.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal, representing the Kerala government, argued before a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud that the court's judgment in the Punjab matter would apply to his case. He mentioned that several bills sent for Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s assent had been pending for the last two years.

The bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, told Attorney General R Venkataramani, “Since our order in the Punjab matter was uploaded last night, ask the Governor’s secretary to look at the order and tell us what your response is on Tuesday".

The Attorney General said he would speak to the Governor. Venugopal added, "All the ministers have met him, the Chief Minister has met him (Governor) many times." The court fixed the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.

On November 20, the Supreme Court issued notice on a plea by the Kerala government claiming that the state's Governor is delaying the consideration of bills passed by the legislative assembly.