Supreme Court Seeks Response From Center, Secretaries Of West Bengal, Kerala Governors Against Denial Of Assent To Bills

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Central Government and the Governor’s secretaries, seeking their response within three weeks. This comes after Kerala and West Bengal governments petitioned the court, accusing their respective governors of delaying bill approvals.

Governors had sent several bills to the President instead of approving them. The court was informed, during the hearing. A bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Mishra is hearing the case.

Senior advocate KK Venugopal, representing Kerala, argued that the Governor’s decision to send bills to the President for consideration is being challenged.

WB, Kerala Government Provides List of Pending Bills

The West Bengal government has petitioned the Supreme Court, accusing Governor CV Anand Bose of withholding approval for eight bills. The government claims that refusing to approve bills passed in the Assembly without providing reasons violates Article 200 of the Constitution.

Seven bills, passed in 2022, are pending with the Governor, including the University Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Private University Laws (Amendment) Bill. An additional bill from 2023 is also pending.

Similarly, the Kerala government has petitioned the Supreme Court against President Draupadi Murmu’s non-approval of four bills passed by the state assembly. These bills include the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021, and the Kerala Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

The petition seeks to declare the non-approval of bills without reasons as unconstitutional. The Kerala government has made the Central Government, the President’s secretary, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, and his additional secretary parties to the case.

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