Presidential Reference verdict: Bengal's statutory authorities have split interpretation of judgment

Kolkata, Nov 20 (PTI) The Supreme Court verdict on Thursday that refused to set timelines on governors and the President to grant assent to bills passed by state assemblies seemed to widen the existing fissures between the Raj Bhavan and the Assembly in West Bengal, with Governor CV Ananda Bose and Speaker Biman Banerjee standing on opposite poles in their interpretation of the judgment.

While Governor Bose hailed the judgment as "landmark" and said it "cleared the air on the jurisdiction of the governor (and the) elected chief minister", Speaker Banerjee opined that keeping legislations pending for long "defeats the purpose of lawmaking and leaves elected governments in limbo".

The Speaker's disappointment found echoes among a section of Trinamool Congress lawmakers from Bengal.

Bose maintained that the Apex Court's ruling that Constitutional authorities cannot be bound by judicial timelines in deciding on bills "clarified the limits and responsibilities of governor and elected government under Articles 200 and 201".

"It is particularly of happiness to the West Bengal Raj Bhavan that a practice that started here three years back has received the endorsement of the Honourable Supreme Court of India. That is the dialogue with the government and the legislative assembly," he said.

On the current status of the pending bills in the state, Bose said that there were some three to four files on which he had sought clarifications from the government, a process he called the "dialogue".

"Once those clarifications are received, the dialogue process is complete and I will be able to take a decision in giving assent to those files," he stated.

He further said the remaining bills had been sent to the President because they carried "all-India relevance" as well as "legal and Constitutional implications".

"There are three files which are sub-judice," Bose added.

Summing up the status, he said, "Because we resorted to the course of dialogue with the government, there is no file which is pending in the Raj Bhavan for the time being." The governor also underscored the need to respect constitutional limits.

"Good fences make good neighbours. There is a Lakshman Rekha set by the Constitution of India, which is binding on the governor as well as the elected chief minister. Once that is respected, all is good," he said.

Calling the order "well timed", he added, "The present order is, what I call, a stitch in time saves nine. That is the message which the Supreme Court has given to entire India." The state assembly Speaker, on the other hand, stuck to his "personal opinion" that a fixed timeline should be laid down for governors to clear bills.

"A bill is brought for the benefit of the people. The government brings it, it is debated, and dissent is recorded. Once passed, it goes to the governor. He may give assent, refuse assent, or return it with recommendations. If returned and passed again, he must give assent," Banerjee said.

Sharp differences between the state legislature and the Raj Bhavan over the governor's nod, or the lack of it, to bills passed in the assembly have played out in the public domain in the past few years, with the Speaker reminding Bose of his constitutional duties to clear pending legislations.

"Earlier, the top court had observed that bills must be cleared within a reasonable time. Even then, I feel fixing a specific timeline would have been far better. That would give clarity and remove uncertainty," the Speaker said.

Banerjee claimed that at least 19 bills passed by the West Bengal Assembly, including key pieces of legislation, are still awaiting the governor's assent.

Veteran TMC MP Sougata Roy called the situation "very disappointing", especially for states not ruled by the BJP.

"We pass legislations, and the governor simply sits on it. It does not set the right precedent. We had hoped the Supreme Court would fix a timeline. It hasn't. So this disappoints me," he said, adding that he was unsure whether a review petition would be possible.

Another senior TMC leader, who did not wish to be named, pointed to recommendations made by various commissions, including the Sarkaria Commission, which have advocated time limits for governors in such matters.

"Many important bills are passed by the state legislature in the interest of the public. Delays in their implementation defeat the very purpose of their passage. In the present situation, most governors sit over the bills passed in states, where there is a government which is opposed to the Centre's BJP, only for political reasons," he said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that the judiciary cannot impose timelines on governors and the President to grant assent to Bills passed by state assemblies but added that governors do not have "unfettered" powers to sit on the bills for "perpetuity".

In its unanimous opinion on the Presidential Reference, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai also held that "indefinite delay" by the governors will be open to "limited judicial scrutiny" and that deemed assent of bills cannot be granted by the apex court by using its plenary power under Article 142.

Deemed assent would amount to virtual takeover of the role of a "separate constitutional authority", it said. PTI PNT SCH SMY RG