New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the Kerala government's pleas against the inordinate delay in the Governor's approval of the Bills passed by the legislative assembly on May 6.
A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi took note of the government's submissions that the verdict of another bench on Tamil Nadu's plea covered the issues raised in the present petition.
A bench headed by Justice JB Pardiwala recently had framed guidelines and set timelines for governors and the President on approving the bills.
“We will look into that judgement and see whether issues raised here are covered,” the bench said and fixed the pleas for further hearing on May 6.
Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the office of the Kerala governor, differed with Venugopal and said that certain issues were different.
A bench comprising Justices Pardiwala and R Mahadevan on April 8 delivered a significant verdict on the plea of Tamil Nadu and set aside the reservation of the 10 bills for the president's consideration in the second round, holding it as illegal and erroneous in law.
The bench, for the first time, prescribed that the president should decide on the bills reserved for her consideration by the governor within a period of three months from the date on which such reference is received.
Kerala seeks similar directions in its case.
The top court agreed on July 26, 2025, to consider Kerala's plea alleging denial of assent to bills passed by the legislative assembly, PTI reported.
The Kerala government alleged that the then Governor Arif Mohammed Khan referred certain bills to President Droupadi Murmu and those were yet to be cleared.
Taking note of the pleas, the top court issued notices to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the secretaries of the Kerala Governor.
Delay in approving Bills SC to consider Kerala pleas against Guv on March 6
