The Supreme Court on Friday took exception to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi refusing to give assent to as many as 12 bills passed by the State legislature..A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the issues raised by the State of Tamil Nadu is of great concern, and proceeded to issue notice to the Central government."The issues raised are of great concern. From the tabulated statements, it appears that as many as 12 bills submitted to the governor under Article 200 have not elicited any further action and other matters regarding proposal for grant of sanction, premature release and appointment of public service commission are pending. We issue notice to the Union of India represented by the secretary in ministry of home affairs," the Court ordered.The Court also sought the assistance of the Attorney General and Solicitor General in the matter. .The Court was hearing a plea by the State government alleging that the Governor was sitting over files pertaining to sanctions for the prosecution of public servants, and the premature release of various prisoners.In the plea filed through advocate Sabarish Subramanian, the State government urged the Supreme Court to direct the Governor to dispose of the same within specified timelines.Further, citing the Sarkaria Commission's recommendations, the government sought issuance of guidelines regarding time limits for Governors to assent to bills passed by the Assembly.The Governor, by his inaction, is bringing the entire administration to a grinding halt and creating an adversarial attitude by not cooperating with the State administration, the plea said."The Governor's inactions have caused a constitutional deadlock between the Constitutional Head of the State and the elected government of the State. That by not acting upon their Constitutional functions, the Hon'ble Governor is toying away with the Citizen's mandate," the plea stated.During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the State, said that this trend of Governors refusing to act on Bills, was now visible across many States in the country."This is a disease spreading from Kashmir to Kanyakumari," he said.The CJI then said that the Court will issue notice and keep the matter for later since the assistance of AG and SG would be required."Please let the AG or SG be here. We can issue notice and keep it later When were the bills passed," the CJI asked."Almost two to three years ago. He is not signing remission orders. Nothing at all. here is a letter saying we are begging you to give sanction for prosecution or remission. There are people in prison. Something has to be done," Singhvi replied..The Court then recorded the categories of bills pending before the Governor:- First, cases where bills were passed by legislative assembly between 2020 and 2023 are pending with the Governor of the state though they were submitted for assent of the Governor from Jan 2023 till April 28, 2023- The second files consists of 4 files sent to Governor from April 2022 to May 2023 for according sanction for prosecution of various crimes involving moral turpitudes of public servants. - The third category is about 54 files of premature release of prisoners submitted to the Governor between August 24, 2022 and June 2023, and proposals sent for the appointment of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission. It has been submitted that TMPSC is functioning with a strength of 4 members out of a total of 14 members resulting the dislocation of services by the posts governed.The Court issued notice and listed the matter for further consideration on November 20. Besides Singhvi, Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and P Wilson also appeared for Tamil Nadu..The relationship between Governor Ravi and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led State government in Tamil Nadu has been tenuous for some time.In January, the Governor was seen walking out of the Assembly before the national anthem was played after Chief Minister MK Stalin had objected to the former skipping some sections of the speech prepared by the State government.The tussle between State Governors and governments has seen frequent litigation in the Supreme Court in past few months.In April, the top court had taken note that Governors were delaying their assent to bills passed by the State legislature and had urged them to keep in mind the mandate under Article 200 of the Constitution which casts a duty on them to clear bills "as soon as possible".The State of Telangana had also moved the apex court earlier seeking directions to the State's Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to give her assent to ten key bills passed by the State legislature..Similar petitions by Punjab and Kerala are also pending before the apex court.
The Supreme Court on Friday took exception to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi refusing to give assent to as many as 12 bills passed by the State legislature..A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the issues raised by the State of Tamil Nadu is of great concern, and proceeded to issue notice to the Central government."The issues raised are of great concern. From the tabulated statements, it appears that as many as 12 bills submitted to the governor under Article 200 have not elicited any further action and other matters regarding proposal for grant of sanction, premature release and appointment of public service commission are pending. We issue notice to the Union of India represented by the secretary in ministry of home affairs," the Court ordered.The Court also sought the assistance of the Attorney General and Solicitor General in the matter. .The Court was hearing a plea by the State government alleging that the Governor was sitting over files pertaining to sanctions for the prosecution of public servants, and the premature release of various prisoners.In the plea filed through advocate Sabarish Subramanian, the State government urged the Supreme Court to direct the Governor to dispose of the same within specified timelines.Further, citing the Sarkaria Commission's recommendations, the government sought issuance of guidelines regarding time limits for Governors to assent to bills passed by the Assembly.The Governor, by his inaction, is bringing the entire administration to a grinding halt and creating an adversarial attitude by not cooperating with the State administration, the plea said."The Governor's inactions have caused a constitutional deadlock between the Constitutional Head of the State and the elected government of the State. That by not acting upon their Constitutional functions, the Hon'ble Governor is toying away with the Citizen's mandate," the plea stated.During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the State, said that this trend of Governors refusing to act on Bills, was now visible across many States in the country."This is a disease spreading from Kashmir to Kanyakumari," he said.The CJI then said that the Court will issue notice and keep the matter for later since the assistance of AG and SG would be required."Please let the AG or SG be here. We can issue notice and keep it later When were the bills passed," the CJI asked."Almost two to three years ago. He is not signing remission orders. Nothing at all. here is a letter saying we are begging you to give sanction for prosecution or remission. There are people in prison. Something has to be done," Singhvi replied..The Court then recorded the categories of bills pending before the Governor:- First, cases where bills were passed by legislative assembly between 2020 and 2023 are pending with the Governor of the state though they were submitted for assent of the Governor from Jan 2023 till April 28, 2023- The second files consists of 4 files sent to Governor from April 2022 to May 2023 for according sanction for prosecution of various crimes involving moral turpitudes of public servants. - The third category is about 54 files of premature release of prisoners submitted to the Governor between August 24, 2022 and June 2023, and proposals sent for the appointment of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission. It has been submitted that TMPSC is functioning with a strength of 4 members out of a total of 14 members resulting the dislocation of services by the posts governed.The Court issued notice and listed the matter for further consideration on November 20. Besides Singhvi, Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and P Wilson also appeared for Tamil Nadu..The relationship between Governor Ravi and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led State government in Tamil Nadu has been tenuous for some time.In January, the Governor was seen walking out of the Assembly before the national anthem was played after Chief Minister MK Stalin had objected to the former skipping some sections of the speech prepared by the State government.The tussle between State Governors and governments has seen frequent litigation in the Supreme Court in past few months.In April, the top court had taken note that Governors were delaying their assent to bills passed by the State legislature and had urged them to keep in mind the mandate under Article 200 of the Constitution which casts a duty on them to clear bills "as soon as possible".The State of Telangana had also moved the apex court earlier seeking directions to the State's Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to give her assent to ten key bills passed by the State legislature..Similar petitions by Punjab and Kerala are also pending before the apex court.
