A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed that soul-searching was required on both sides.
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ON Monday, the Supreme Court expressed concern about the dramatic rise in squabbles between governors and chief ministers, which has led to several petitions by state governments seeking intervention of the Supreme Court for clearance of pending Bills.
A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed that soul-searching was required on both sides.
The Bench has called for details on the action taken by the governor with regard to the Bills passed by the Punjab legislative assembly and pending with the governor for the last three months.
The Bench will now hear the matter on Friday.
The Bench also reminded the governor that he was not an elected representative and that he should not act only after the state government approached the court.
The Solicitor General for India Tushar Mehta, for the governor, submitted that the latter was in the process of taking appropriate action on the pending Bills.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the Punjab government, submitted that key Bills, including those relating to fiscal management of the state, were sent to the governor’s consideration in July but are yet to receive assent.
Mehta submitted that the court needed to examine whether a legislative assembly could be reconvened without first declaring the House prorogued. He contended that as a constitutional scheme, the House, once adjourned, could not be reconvened without making recommendations to the governor.
To this, the CJI also voiced some concerns. He pointed out that the assembly had been summoned in March, and then adjourned sine die. The speaker reconvened the sitting of the assembly in June. Is that really the scheme under the Constitution, the CJI wondered aloud.
Senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, who was present in the court, invited the attention of the Bench to the similar petition filed by the Kerala Government against the governor for not giving his assent to Bills.
The Bench agreed to list the petitions filed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the similar issues.
