Guvs can't sit on bill to thwart process of lawmaking, says SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine whether a governor can reserve a bill for presidential assent without assigning any reason and after sitting on it for an inordinate period, questioning Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan's move to refer to the President a day ago seven of the eight bills that he was withholding for a period ranging between seven and 26 months.

- Utkarsh Anand

"What was the governor doing for two years without acting on these bills? We will get into it. There is accountability of governors and there is accountability on us as a constitutional court... Governors cannot sit on a bill to thwart the normal process of lawmaking by state legislatures," a bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, said.

The bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, recorded in its order that there was no justification for Khan to keep the eight bills pending for an "inordinate period" before giving his assent for one of the eight bills and reserving the other seven for presidential assent.

Like similar petitions filed by the governments of Telangana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu against inaction by their respective governors, the bench noted, the Kerala governor also acted only after the state government moved a petition before the top court and notice was issued, seeking explanation from the governor's office.