Special sitting of the Assembly will take place two days before the Supreme Court hears the government plea against the Governor.
Published Nov 16, 2023 | 4:33 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 16, 2023 | 5:20 PM
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief MK Stalin with Governor RN Ravi in the Assembly on Monday, 9 January, 2023. (Supplied)
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has returned the Bills sent to him by the government for his assent and the state is all set to get them passed again in a special sitting of the Assembly on Saturday, 18 November — two days ahead of the Supreme Court hearing the government’s plea against the Governor.
Speaking to reporters at Tiruvannamalai, Speaker M Appavu said a special sitting of the Assembly would be held on Saturday.
On the purpose of the special session, he said he has learnt that Governor Ravi has returned to the government several Bills sent to him for his assent.
The state government intends to get such Bills adopted again immediately, and hence the Assembly will meet on 18 November, he added.
In an editorial that explained the background to the DMK regime recently approaching the Supreme Court accusing the Raj Bhavan of sitting on Bills passed by the Assembly, the ruling DMK’s official organ Murasoli on 14 November said the apex court had done some tough talking in the matter related to Governors.
Murasoli alleged that Governor RN Ravi’s speeches in public were an attempt to position himself as a guard of Sanatana Dharma.
Describing as a matter of “serious concern” the Governor sitting on Bills passed by the state legislature, the Supreme Court on 10 November, issued notice to the Union government to make clear its position on the inaction.
Referring to the tabulated statements of the Bills passed by the state Assembly pending with the Governor, the bench said, “We are of the view that it is a matter of serious concern.”
In its plea in the Supreme Court, the state government has said that the Governor has not taken any action on Bills sent to him from 2020 to 2023, as well as 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.
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 the Union Government appointed in line with the Constitution, had positioned himself as a political rival to the legitimately elected state government.
Describing as a matter of “serious concern” the Tamil Nadu Governor sitting on Bills passed by the state legislature, the Supreme Court on 10 November, issued notice to the Union government to make clear its position on the inaction.
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. It then posted the case for 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.
(With PTI inputs)
