Thiruvananthapuram: A day after Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud wondered why governors waited to act on bills till the states took them to court, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said he would give his assent to the pending bills only if Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met him and explained the rationale behind the bills.
"You don't even have to wait for the verdict of the Supreme Court," the Governor told reporters on Tuesday. Governor Khan also refused to comment on the oral observations made by the Supreme Court. "That is just an observation, not a verdict. So I refrain from making any comments," he said.
It was while hearing a writ petition filed by the Punjab government that the Chief Justice made the observations. He was responding to the information passed on to him that the Punjab Governor had acted on the bills.
"...Governors act only when matters reach the Supreme Court. This has to stop. You come to the Supreme Court, then the Governor starts acting. This shouldn't be," the Chief Justice said. He said this happened in Telangana as well; Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan signed all the pending bills when the issue came before the court.
On November 2, the Kerala government had also moved the Supreme Court against the Governor's inordinate delay in giving his assent to Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly.
"The conduct of the Governor, as would presently be demonstrated, threatens to defeat and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundations of our Constitution, including the rule of law and democratic good governance, apart from defeating the rights of the people of the State to the welfare measures sought to be implemented through the Bills," the state government said in its plea. The Supreme Court will take up Kerala's case on Friday, November 10.
The Kerala Governor had always taken the stand that the Chief Minister was shirking his Constitutional obligation to brief him on matters of the state. The Governor had also snubbed ministers and senior officials who had arrived to brief him on behalf of the Chief Minister.
Major bills awaiting the Governor's nod are the University Laws Amendment Bill (1st Amendment); University Laws Amendment Bill (2nd Amendment); APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University Bill; Kerala Co-operative Societies Amendment Bill; Kerala LokAyukta Amendment Bill; Public Health Bill. Some of the bills, like the University Laws have been passed for over a year.
The University Laws stripped the Governor of his powers as chancellor and the Lok Ayukta Bill transferred the Governor’s power to act against corruption in high places to the State Legislature.
