Apart from Tamil Nadu, the governments of Kerala and Punjab have knocked on the apex court's doors on the problem of pending bills
Published Nov 10, 2023 | 3:26 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 16, 2023 | 4:29 PM
Chief Minister MK Stalin with Governor RN Ravi (Supplied)
Describing as a matter of “serious concern” the Tamil Nadu Governor sitting on Bills passed by the state legislature, the Supreme Court on Friday, 10 November, issued notice to the Union government to make clear its position on the inaction.
The state government said that the Governor has not taken any action on Bills sent to him from 2020 to 2023 and the government’s decisions on the appointment of the chairman and the members of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC), sanction for the prosecution of public servants, and the grant of remission to convicts.
Issuing notice, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, heading a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, requested the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in the matter.
The case will be next heard on 20 November.
Referring to the tabulated statements of the Bills passed by the state Assembly pending with the Governor since January 2020 and other state government decisions requiring his sanction, the bench said, “We are of the view that it is a matter of serious concern.”
The court noted that there are 12 Bills sent to the Governor from 13 January, 2020, to 28 April, 2023. Among the decisions are appointment to the TNPSC — which has a sanctioned strength of 14 members and is now functioning headless with just four members — sanction for prosecution of public servants and grant of sanction for premature release of convicts in 54 cases.
The court said that Article 200 of the Constitution requires the Bill passed by the state Assembly should be presented to the Governor, who can give assent or withhold and send it back for reconsideration, or reserve and send it to the President of India for consideration.
The Supreme Court reiterated this point at an earlier hearing on a petition filed by Punjab about the Governor delaying return files, by making the oral observation that the trend of Governors acting on pending Bills only after the states approached the court should stop.
Kerala has also approached the apex court seeking similar relief on pending Bills. In the past, the Telangana Governor had acted on the Bills soon after the government moved the Supreme Court.
Pointing to the sanction pending on the appointment of the chairman and members of the TNPSC, the Tamil Nadu government, in its petition, submitted that due to this the commission’s functions were stalled.
“The Governor by not signing remission orders, day-to-day files, appointment orders, approving recruitment orders, granting approval to prosecute Ministers, MLAs involved in corruption including transfer of investigation to CBI by Supreme Court, Bills passed by Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is bringing the entire administration to a grinding halt,” the petition stated.
“The Governor is creating an adversarial attitude by not cooperating with the state administration,” added the petition.
The petition stated that the Governor, who was appointed by the Union Government in line with the Constitution, had positioned himself as a political rival to the legitimately elected state government.
It added that the Governor has been hindering and obstructing the Legislative Assembly’s ability to carry out its legislative duties by unjustly and excessively delaying the consideration of bills that the Assembly has passed.
The Tamil Nadu government submitted that the Governor is toying with the citizen’s mandate by not acting upon his Constitutional functions.
The Tamil Nadu government had also approached the Supreme Court against the Governor over his appointments in the “search-cum-selection” committee for the appointments of vice-chancellors (VCs) to three state universities.
Claiming that the Governor was “engaging in politically-motivated conduct”, the DMK government approached the Supreme Court on 31 October seeking a direction to the Raj Bhavan to dispose of the pending bills (passed in the state Assembly), government orders (GOs), and prosecution sanctions within a stipulated time period.
The notifications constituted three search-cum-selection committees to recommend three names each for the posts of VC for the University of Madras, Bharathiar University (BU), and the Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Education University (TNTEU).
