Telangana government seeks SC direction to Governor to give assent to 10 pending bills

It told the court that of the 10 bills, seven were pending with the Governor since 14 September, 2022, and the rest since 3 January, 2023.

ByRaj Rayasam

Published Mar 02, 2023 | 8:12 PMUpdatedMar 02, 2023 | 8:13 PM

Supreme Court

The face-off between the Telangana government and Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan is becoming more serious by the day, with the former moving the Supreme Court on Thursday, 2 March.

The government sought a direction from the court to the Governor to give assent to 10 bills pending with her.

In a special leave petition filed with the apex court, the state government pleaded for its direction as the constitutional deadlock — created following the Governor’s inordinate delay in granting assent to the bills — was continuing.

The government said that the Supreme Court might act on its petition under its extraordinary jurisdiction as per Article 32 of the Constitution.

The government brought to the notice of the court that of the 10 bills, seven were pending with the Governor since 14 September last year, and the rest since 3 January.

It urged for the issuing of a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction to the Governor to clear the bills.

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‘Governance will be affected’

The government argued that any further delay in clearing the bills might result in the governance being affected, which would have a direct bearing on the people.

It requested the court to declare that the inaction of the Governor was irregular, illegal, and unconstitutional.

The government said it was forced to approach the apex court as the Constitution could not be kept static when it came to legislative issues and, if it was allowed, it would lead to chaos.

It argued that there was no justifiable reason for the Governor to keep the bills, which had been passed by both Houses of the legislature of Telangana, on hold.

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The pending bills

The Telangana government listed as respondents the secretary of the Governor and secretary of the Union Law Ministry.

The bills pending with the Governor included the University of Forestry Bill, Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and regulation of leases) (Amendment) Bill, Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill, Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, and Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Amendments Bill.

The case is likely to come up for a hearing on Friday

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