Telangana governor’s office on Monday told the Supreme Court that assent has been given to three Bills passed by the state legislature and two others have been reserved for consideration and assent of the President.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that he has received a communication dated April 9 from the secretary to the governor of Telangana in regard to the position of the Bills, which were submitted to the governor for assent.
The bench took the letter on record and noted that the assents of governor were given for the Bills which include The Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana Municipalities (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and The Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
It noted that two Bills which were reserved for consideration and assent of the President are The University of Forestry Telangana Bill, 2022 and The Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022.
The bench recorded in its order that the Bills which are under active consideration of the governor are The Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and The Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
“The statement indicates that certain clarifications have been sought by the Governor from the State Government in regard to Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill 2023,” the bench said in its order.
It added that it has been stated that the Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and Regulation of Leases) (Amendment) Bill 2022 has not been submitted as yet by the Law Department to the governor for consideration and assent.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on April 24.
On March 27, the top court had deferred to April 10 the hearing on the Telangana government’s plea seeking directions to the state governor to clear 10 Bills that have been passed by the assembly but are awaiting gubernatorial assent.
The top court was told by Mehta that he had some discussion with the governor on the issue and would make a statement on the next date of hearing.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the Telangana government, had said that in Madhya Pradesh, the governor grants assent to Bills within seven days while in Gujarat, Bills are cleared within a month.
On March 20, the top court sought the Centre’s response on the plea filed by the state government.
It had clarified that the court will not issue notice to the office of governor but would like to see the reply of the Union of India on the state government’s plea.
On March 14, the apex court agreed to hear a petition filed by the Telangana government seeking directions to the state governor to clear 10 pending Bills passed by legislative assembly but are awaiting gubernatorial assent.
The court had agreed to hear the plea, after Dave mentioned it for urgent listing, saying several Bills of public importance are stuck.
The state government has said in its petition it is constrained to move the apex court under Article 32 of the Constitution in view of a “constitutional impasse” created on account of refusal of the governor to act on several Bills passed by the state legislature.
It said Article 200 of the Constitution empowers the governor to either give assent to a Bill passed by the state assembly or to withhold the assent or reserve the Bill for consideration of the President.
“This power has to be exercised as soon as possible,” it said.
The state government said several Bills passed by the assembly, including the Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) Amendment Bill 2022 and Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022, are awaiting Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s nod.
Soundararajan, a former Tamil Nadu BJP chief, is locked in a running feud with the BRS government in Telangana.
