Kerala government moves SC against president withholding assent to bills
The Kerala government has initiated legal proceedings against President Droupadi Murmu for withholding assent to four bills passed by the legislative assembly. The bills in question are the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021; the Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022; and two additional University Laws Amendment Bills from 2022. The state government is calling for a declaration that the president's refusal to approve without giving any reason is unconstitutional.
Know about Kerala government's stand
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has implicated several parties in this case. These include the Union government, President's Secretary Rajesh Verma, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, and his additional secretary. According to the Kerala government, the governor should not have sent the bills to the president because they deal with matters that fall under the State List of the Constitution.
Allegations of constitutional violations by Kerala government
The plea reportedly argues that the governor's practice of keeping bills pending for extended periods and reserving them for presidential consideration without valid reasons is "manifestly arbitrary." While flagging how this infringes Article 14 of the Constitution of India, it also argued that denying approval to these four bills without any disclosed reason also breaches Article 21.
Past legal actions against Kerala governor
This is not the first time the Vijayan-led government has taken legal action against Governor Khan. On November 20, last year, Vijayan approached the Supreme Court, accusing the Kerala governor of refusing to approve several bills passed by the assembly. The previous incident led the country's apex court to issue a notice to the governor's office.