The Supreme Court will hear on Friday, three petitions filed by the States of Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, alleging inaction by their Governors over the passage of Bills passed by the respective State Legislatures.
A petition filed by the State of Punjab was mentioned before the Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Monday, which observed that the Governors could not sit over the Bills indefinitely.
The Bench listed the petition for hearing on November 10, along with the pleas filed by the States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
A separate petition has been filed in the Apex Court by the Kerala government against a High Court verdict of November 2022, which dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the Kerala Governor for withholding the Bills passed by the State Legislature indefinitely and not adopting the course under Article 200 of the Constitution.
The State of Kerala was a Respondent before the High Court.
The High Court had observed in November 2022 that it cannot fix a time limit for the Governor to give assent to bills.
It said even under the Parliamentary democracy, when the Governor was left with discretion under Article 200 of the Constitution of India, it may not be appropriate for the Courts to issue any direction to the Governor of a State to exercise the discretion within a time frame to be fixed by the Court.
The order was passed by the Division Bench of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly.
{Case title: The State of Kerala & Anr vs PV Jeevesh (Advocate) & Ors}