'TN Governor Judgment Doesn't Cover Kerala's Plea On Bills' Assent' : AG Tells Supreme Court

The recent judgment in the Tamil Nadu Governor's case, which laid down timelines for the grant of assent to Bills, will not cover the case of Kerala, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

A bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was considering a writ petition filed by the State of Kerala in 2023 against the Governor's delay in deciding on the Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly. Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for the Kerala Government, told the bench that the judgment delivered in the Tamil Nadu Governor's case covered the case of Kerala as well.

"Matter covered by the recent judgment. The issue is what is the timelimit for reference to the President. That is held to be three months. That is based on a circular issued by the Govt of India," Venugopal said.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said that he needed time to examine the impact of the judgment. "Solicitor General has to say if it is covered directly or not," Venugopal submitted. In reply, SG said, "It is not covered."

Attorney General for India R Venkataramani told the bench that the judgment did not cover Kerala's case as there were certain "factual differences." "Judgment does not cover certain issues of this case on facts. We would like to show those differences," AG said.

The bench said that it will examine whether the judgment was applicable to Kerala's case as well or if there were any differences. Venugopal informed the bench that there was a subsequent writ petition filed by Kerala challenging the President's withholding of the Bills (which were referred by the Governor after the 2023 petition was filed). He said that the Chief Justice of India has directed the listing of the petition on May 13. Justice Narasimha said a mention has to be made before the CJI for tagging the other petition with the present one.

The bench ultimately posted the present matter on May 6 for hearing.

In November 2023, after notice was issued on the present writ petition, the Governor referred certain Bills to the President. In a subsequent hearing, the bench led by former CJI DY Chandrachud had criticised the then Kerala Governor Arif Muhammed Khan for sitting over the Bills for nearly two years.

On February 29, 2024, the President withheld assent from four bills and approved three other bills. Presidential assent was withheld for the following bills. 1) University Laws (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021, 2) the Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, 3) the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 , and 4) the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill, 2022.

Case Details: THE STATE OF KERALA AND ANR. v. HONBLE GOVERNOR FOR STATE OF KERALA AND ORS.| W.P.(C) No. 1264/2023

Click Here To Read/Download Order