New Delhi: Kerala has become the latest state government ruled by an opposition party to move the Supreme Court against the governor, requesting the top court to declare that Arif Mohammed Khan has failed to exercise his constitutional powers and duties by keeping Bills passed by the legislature on hold for an indefinite period.
Kerala’s move comes days after the DMK government in Tamil Nadu filed a petition in the apex court, accusing governor R.N. Ravi of positioning himself as a “political rival” who is “obstructing the State Legislative Assembly’s ability to carry out its duties by excessively delaying the consideration of bills that the Assembly has passed”. The Punjab government, led by the Aam Aadmi Party, also recently moved the top court against governor Banwarilal Purohit.
According to The Hindu, the Kerala government raised the demand in a special leave petition on Thursday, November 2. The petition says the governor “subverted the Constitution and acted in a manifestly arbitrary manner by keeping the Bills passed by the State Legislature for an indefinite period”. It sought a declaration from the Supreme Court that the governor is duty-bound to dispose of every Bill presented to him “within a reasonable time” and a direction to Khan to do the same without any further delay.
According to the newspaper, three Bills passed by the legislature were pending with the governor for more than two years and three more for longer than a year. “The conduct of the Governor threatened to defeat and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundations of the Constitution, including the rule of law and democratic good governance,” the petition argues.
The Kerala government pointed out that the governor had cleared the Kerala Private Forest (Vesting and Assignment) Bill, 2023, which was presented to him on April 6, 2023, on September 18. This shows that the non-disposal of the earlier Bills was a “conscious act”, the petition says, according to The Hindu.
“A Governor who acts in gross disregard and violation of the provisions of the Constitution cannot be said to be functioning in the discharge of his duties as a Governor,” the petition adds.
Over the past few years, opposition parties have repeatedly criticised governors appointed by the Narendra Modi government, accusing them of acting in violation of constitutional provisions and hindering governance. “They are wilfully undermining democratically elected state governments and choosing instead to obstruct governance as per their whims and fancies,” a letter signed by eight opposition parties and sent to Prime Minister Modi in March said.
While the constitution obliges governors to follow the “advice” of the cabinet led by the chief minister, the fact that there is not clarity about some key powers has led to abuses of power. The constitution is silent about three key areas regarding the governor: who to invite to form government; when to dissolve or call the state assembly into session, and when to approve Bills.