The solicitor general told the apex court he had some discussion with Governor on the issue and would make a statement at the next hearing.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan with President Droupadi Murmu. (TelanganaCMO/Twitter)
The Supreme Court on Monday, 27 March, deferred to 10 April the hearing on the Telangana government’s plea seeking a direction to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to clear 10 bills that had been passed by the Assembly but were awaiting gubernatorial assent.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that he had some discussion with the Governor on behalf of the Centre on the issue and would make a statement at the next hearing.
“Mr Solicitor General, you can have a word with the Governor and make a statement on the next date of hearing. List the matter on 10 April,” the bench said.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the Telangana government, said that the Governor in Madhya Pradesh grants assent to bills within seven days, while bills are cleared within a month in Gujarat.
“Why is it being delayed in Telangana? I seek the intervention of the Solicitor General and he can advise the Governor,” he said.
“What is the point of doing all this? Why can’t the court insist that the Governor cannot sit like this on the bills?” asked Dave.
“There is no communication at all. Two constitutional bench judgements are there which say that the Governor has to abide by the aid and advice of the council of ministers. It sends the wrong message,” he continued.
Mehta said that there were certain communications, but he would not like to elaborate further.
“I will take further instructions and make a statement on the next date of hearing,” he said.
Dave said that it should be recorded in the order as people of the state were waiting for these bills to be cleared.
The bench, however, did not record anything in the order and adjourned the matter for further hearing on 10 April.
On 20 March, the top court sought the Centre’s response to the plea filed by the state government.
It clarified that the court would not issue a notice to the office of the Governor but would like to see the reply of the Union of India on the state government’s plea.
On 14 March, the top court agreed to hear a petition filed by the Telangana government seeking directions to the state governor to clear 10 pending bills passed by the Legislative Assembly but are awaiting gubernatorial assent.
The apex court agreed to hear the plea, after Dave mentioned it for urgent listing, saying several bills of public importance were stuck.
The state government said in its petition that it was constrained to move the apex court under Article 32 of the Constitution in view of a “constitutional impasse” created on account of the refusal of the Governor to act on several bills passed by the state legislature.
It said Article 200 of the Constitution empowers the Governor to either give assent to a bill passed by the state Assembly or withhold assent or reserve the bill for the consideration of the President.
“This power has to be exercised as soon as possible,” it said.
The state government said several bills passed by the Assembly, including the Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) Amendment Bill, 2022, and Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022, were awaiting Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s nod.
Soundararajan, a former chief of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, is locked in a running feud with the BRS government in Telangana.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
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