The Supreme Court today heard the petition filed by the state government regarding the delay in giving approval to the bills passed by the Assembly by Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit.

The case was listed for hearing on Monday before a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra.

The Supreme Court directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to submit an updated status report on the action taken on the bills by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said governors should take action on the bills even before the matters come up before the apex court.

Solicitor General Mehta, appearing for the Punjab Governor, informed the bench that the Governor has taken action on the bills placed before him and the petition filed by the Punjab government is an unnecessary litigation. On the petition of Punjab Government, the Supreme Court said that the Governor needs some introspection, he should know that he is not the elected representative of the people.

Action should be taken even before the matter comes to court. The SG says Punjab Governor has taken action and an updated status report will be presented in a few days. The petition should be listed on Friday and the court should be informed about the action taken by the Governor. The court has fixed the hearing of the case on November 10.

Governor of Punjab is involved in the ongoing feud with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. On November 1, Purohit gave his approval to two of the three bills sent to him. A few days later he wrote to Mann that he would examine all proposed laws on their merits before allowing them to be introduced in the Assembly.

The approval of the Governor is required to introduce a Money Bill in the House. Purohit has approved the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2023.

However, in his first letter to the Chief Minister on October 19, the Governor had withheld his assent to the three money bills. Purohit has withheld his assent to the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill 2023, the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2023, which were to be introduced in the House.

The Governor had said that the October 20-21 session, which was introduced as an extension of the Budget session, would be illegal and any business conducted during it would be illegal. On October 20, the Punjab government cut short its two-day session.

In the petition, a request has been made to direct the Governor to approve the bills passed by the Assembly. It has been said in the petition that due to such unconstitutional inaction, the entire administration has come to a standstill. The state government argues that the Governor cannot stop the bills indefinitely and his powers under Article 200 of the Constitution are limited.

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