'Governors should act before governments come to SC': CJI says while hearing Punjab government's plea

CJI DY Chandrachud says governors must realise that they are not elected representatives

The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on November 6 noted that governors of states must clear bills before states approach the Supreme Court for the same.

He said "The governors should do a bit of soul searching. Why should parties be requires to move the court for convening budget session?" CJI also noted that the governors must understand that they are not elected representatives.

The above observations were made in a plea filed by Punjab government against the governor for not passing bills recommended by them. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Punjab and argued that some key bills have been pending by the governor. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the governor Banwarilal Purohit and told the court that action has already been taken on these bills.

The court has now asked the solicitor general to furnish the details of the action taken by the governor on the pending bills. The case is likely to come up for hearing on November 10.

It maybe noted that states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu have also filed such petitions against their governor.

Second clash between Punjab government and governor:

This is the second time the AAP government of Punjab has filed a plea against its governor Banwarilal Purohit in 2023. In February, Punjab government moved a plea in Supreme Court alleging that the governor ‘refused’ to summon the budget session of the state legislature.

The SC criticised both the CM Bhagwat Mann and governor Purohit for their actions.  It was argued in the court that when Mann sought the governor’s permission to summon the assembly, Purohit replied that he needed to get legal advice over a "derogatory letter" that the CM wrote to him. The governor had sought certain details from the CM on his recommendation for a foreign study tour but Mann wrote an allegedly derogatory letter to the governor and also took to Twitter and wrote about it, the court heard. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud then called for a more civil discourse between the constitutional functionaries and said "communications between constitutional authorities have to have a constitutional discourse, such statements cannot be made”.

The court observed that while governor has the right to seek information from the CM on decisions taken by the government, the CM is duty-bound to furnish it.