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Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday affirmed that there was no tussle of the Kerala government with him and that money bills would be cleared only after his approval.
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said, " There is absolutely no tussle (between Kerala govt and Governor), I will go by the spirit of the constitution. University bills are money bills and money bills cannot be passed by the Assembly without prior approval by the Governor" This statement comes after the Kerala Government moved the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court order that dismissed its plea against the Governor over withholding assent to bills indefinitely. This is another application filed by the Kerala government against the Governor for delaying the clearance of pending bills. The state government has challenged the HC order passed by its Ernakulam Bench on November 30, 2022. In the High Court, the government advocate has raised the question of whether the Governor is under a constitutional obligation to act in a time-bound manner in one or the other modes mandated or prescribed under Article 200 of the Constitution with respect to the Bills that have been passed by the Legislative Assembly of the State and presented to him for his assent within a reasonable time. The petitioner has sought to declare that the actions of the Governor in withholding the bills indefinitely without exercising the discretionary powers under Article 200 of the Constitution as contumacious, arbitrary, despotic and antithetical to the democratic values, ideals of the Cabinet form of government, and principles of democratic constitutionalism and federalism. The state government said that grave injustice is being done to the people of the State, as well as to its representative democratic institutions (i.e., the State Legislature and the Executive) by the Governor by keeping Bills pending for long periods of time, including three bills for longer than two years. The Governor appears to be of the view that granting assent or otherwise dealing with Bills is a matter entrusted to him in his absolute discretion to decide whenever he pleases. This is a complete subversion of the Constitution, the state government said. (ANI)
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