The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the State Governors for sitting on Bills passed by their respective Legislature and acting on the same only after the state governments moved courts.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra made the observations while hearing a writ petition filed by the State of Punjab against Governor Banwarilal Purohit, against his alleged inaction on seven bills.
Representing the Governor, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta apprised the Apex Court that Governor Purohit had taken ‘appropriate’ decisions on the Bills and undertook to convey the details by Friday.
The Bench then asked him why the Governors acted only when the matters had reached the Supreme Court. It said this trend of the Governors swinging to action after the state governments move the courts should stop.
It referred to a similar situation happening in the State of Telangana, where Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan acted on the Bills only after the state government filed a Writ Petition.
The Bench further said that the Governors should not be oblivious of the fact that they were not the elected authorities.
Appearing for the State of Punjab, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that important Bills, including those relating to fiscal management, amendments to the GST and Gurudwara management were sent for the Governor’s consideration in July and inaction on the Bills has affected the governance.
He added that the Governor deferred the consideration of bills citing irregularities.
The Bench then reprimanded the Punjab government on the manner in which the House was convened. It said the Punjab Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die in March but was reconvened in June.
Was this really the scheme under the Constitution, asked the Supreme Court, pointing out that usually, a Session was held in six months.
At this juncture, the SG said that such a practice was against the Constitutional scheme, as the House, once adjourned, could not be reconvened in such a manner. He alleged that the House was reconvened so that the members could ‘get together,’ ‘abuse’ people and ‘claim privilege’.
The Apex Court observed that both the government and the Governor need to do a bit of ‘soul searching’.
Stating that India was the oldest democracy in the world, the top court of the country directed both Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Governor Banwarilal Purohit to sort out issues between them.
(Case title: The State Of Punjab v Principal Secretary To The Governor Of Punjab And Anr)