Hyderabad, April 10 (). Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has cleared three bills while returning two other bills to the state government after the Telangana government approached the Supreme Court on pending bills.
The governor has sent two other bills to Rashtrapati Bhavan for approval while keeping three others pending with him.
It is not yet clear which three Bills have been approved by the Governor, which two have been returned to the state government and which two have been sent to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Telangana Forest University Bill, the Jaishankar Agricultural University Amendment Bill and the Telangana Women’s University Bill are believed to have been approved by the Governor, while the Azamabad Industrial Area Amendment Bill and the Telangana Motor Vehicle Tax Amendment Bill have been sent to the President.
The Governor has taken a decision on the pending bills at a time when the hearing in this regard was to resume in the Supreme Court on Monday itself.
The state government has told the Supreme Court in a writ petition that 10 bills are pending in the Raj Bhavan. Seven of these Bills are pending since September 2022 and the remaining three since February this year. The government had demanded the apex court to declare the delay in the Governor’s decision on the Bills as illegal, irregular and unconstitutional.
In the Special Leave Petition, the state government has said, as per the Constitution, it is mandatory that the Governor gives assent to the Bills and inaction in this regard would lead to lawlessness.
The state government said that if the governor has any doubts about the bills, he can seek clarification, but cannot stop the bill.
If she raises any issue, we will give an explanation, the government said in the petition. She can’t stop him. The constitutional imperative in this regard is clear.
This is the second time that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has approached the apex court against the governor.
The government had in February moved the Telangana High Court seeking a direction to the governor to clear the state budget for 2023-24. However, the court had suggested that both the parties settle the issue amicably.
The lawyers of both the state government and the Raj Bhavan had agreed on a settlement formula. The government agreed to start the budget session of the assembly with the governor’s address and the governor agreed to approve the budget.
The governor had in November 2022 rejected the allegations of the BRS that the Raj Bhavan had withheld some bills passed by the state government. She had said that she is taking time to assess and analyze the bills before giving her assent.
Education Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy later met the Governor to clear her doubts on the Common Recruitment Board Bill.
AKJ/SKP
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