Kerala Government Moves Supreme Court Challenging President Withholding Assent To Bills Passed By State Assembly

The Kerala government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against President Droupadi Murmu's decision to withhold assent to four bills passed by the state assembly.

The bills in question are the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021; the Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022; and the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill, 2022.

The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has made the Union government, the Secretary to the President of India, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and his additional secretary parties to the case.

The government has requested that the President's action of not granting assent to these bills without providing any reason be declared unconstitutional.

The state government also challenged the Governor's role in reserving seven bills, including these four, for the President's consideration.

The petition argues that withholding assent without stating reasons violates constitutional principles.

"It has to be pointed out that the President, which would effectively mean the Council of Ministers, aiding and advising the President, has not given any reason whatsoever for withholding assent for four out of the seven Bills reserved by the Governor. This is a highly arbitrary action, violating Article 14 of the Constitution, as well as Article 200 and 201 thereof," the State said in the writ petition, Livelaw reported.

The plea further contends that these actions deny the people of Kerala the benefits of welfare legislation enacted by the State Assembly, thereby violating their constitutional rights.

“Additionally, the actions impugned defeat the rights of the people of the State of Kerala under Article 21 of the Constitution, by denying them the benefits of welfare legislation enacted by the State Assembly,” it said, Indian Express reported.

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