The Supreme Court on Monday said Governors should not delay in acting on Bills passed by their respective state assemblies.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud remarked that state governments should not be constrained in approaching the top court on account of delay caused by governors in granting assent to Bills.
“Governors must act even before the matter comes to the Supreme Court. This has to come to an end when Governors act only when matters reach the Supreme Court,” the CJI said during the resumed hearing of a petition filed by the Punjab government.
The Punjab government has challenged the delay by Governor Banwarilal Purohit in granting assent to the Bills passed by the Assembly or proposed to be tabled. The Bench noted that a similar thing (delay) has happened in Telangana too.
The Bench also noted that the Punjab Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die on March 22 without being prorouged and was reconvened three months later. Speaking for the Bench, the CJI orally remarked that the Chief Minister and Governor of Punjab needed some “soul searching”.
The CJI went on to verbally remark that the “Governor must know that he is not an elected representative. He can withhold assent and send it back once”.
The Bench also said, “Can this be done constitutionally? You have to hold a session in six months, right? That is why the life of an Ordinance cannot exceed six months. But the governor says you adjourn the session for three months? Is this really the scheme of the Constitution?”
