SC to hear pleas of TN, Kerala governments on 'delay' by Governors in giving assent to bills on Nov. 20

Supreme Court to hear TN, Kerala govts' pleas on delay in assent to bills by governors on Nov 20. TN Assembly re-adopted 10 bills after Governor R N Ravi returned them. SC issued notice to Centre, sought AG/SG's assistance to resolve issue. TN govt urged SC to declare Governor's inaction unconstitutional. Kerala govt moved SC claiming Governor delaying assent to bills, causing grave injustice to people. Governor's conduct subverting Constitution, violating Article 14, it said.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on November 20 two separate pleas of the Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments, alleging a delay by the respective state governors in giving assent to bills passed by the assemblies.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear the pleas.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly re-adopted 10 bills in a special sitting on November 18, days after those were returned by Governor R N Ravi.

The bills, covering different departments, including law, agriculture and higher education, were passed in the wake of Mr. Ravi returning those on November 13. The re-adopted bills were later sent to the Governor for his assent.

On November 10, describing the alleged delay by the Tamil Nadu governor in giving assent to the bills as a "matter of serious concern", the top court sought the Centre's response on the state government's petition accusing the Raj Bhawan of "sitting over" 12 legislations.

Issuing notice to the Centre, the top court had sought the assistance of the attorney general or solicitor general in resolving the issue.

"The issues which have been raised in the writ petition raise a matter of serious concern. From the tabulated statements which have been submitted before this court, it appears that as many as 12 bills which have been submitted to the governor under Article 200 have not elicited any further action.