New Delhi: Governors must remember that they are not the elected representatives of states and have limited power over legislative actions of an elected government, the Supreme Court said on Monday, seeking a detailed account of action taken by Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit on four bills, which the state government claimed he has withheld for an inordinate period and inexplicable reasons.
Expressing its anguish over a trend of governors acting on bills only after the states approached the Supreme Court, a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that governors should not compel the state governments to pursue legal recourse each and every time the latter exercised their legislative powers.
“It happened in Telanganala also. There are other states also approaching this court regarding pending bills. Why do parties have to come to the Court? Governors must act even before they come to the Supreme Court. After they come to the court, Governors start acting. This has to stop,” the bench, which also comprised justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, told solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Punjab governor.
As Mehta said that the governor has acted on the bills and that he can put on record an updated status report, the bench fixed the next hearing of the petition filed by the Punjab government on November 10.
In the last one week, state governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have also moved the top court against the alleged inaction and delay by their respective governors in clearing several bills. Those petitions are yet to come up for hearings. All four states are ruled by parties other than the Bharatiya Janata Party, which runs the government at the Centre.