Filed plea against Kerala Gov as crucial Bills were getting delayed: CPI(M) MLA

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 3 (IANS) A day after the Kerala government and a CPI(M) legislator moved the Supreme Court against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan not signing the eight Bills pending with him since long, the legislator opened up on why he joined the move.

T. P. Ramakrishnan is a former State Minister of Excise in the 2016-21 Pinarayi Vijayan government and presently a legislator, joined with the State Chief Secretary in the petition filed in the apex court against Khan.

“The reason why I joined to file the petition is because though the Bill is prepared by the government and presented in the Assembly, once the Bill is passed in the Assembly, it then becomes a property of the Kerala Legislative Assembly,” said Ramakrishnan.

“Even though there is no time frame given for the Governor to give the nod, these Bills are all crucial for the state and it’s his Constitutional and democratic duty to do the needful, which he has not done. Another reason why I joined is, through this delay, it infringes the rights of legislators too,” he added.

Last month, Vijayan had pointed out that the Governor has with him eight Bills passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly, for long.

Three of these have been lying with him (for over a year ) and one for around 22 months. While another three are with him for around a year, two for less than a year.

The Vijayan government, along with Ramakrishnan, filed the petition after taking legal advice from jurist Fali S. Nariman and speaking to veteran lawyer K. K. Venugopal for representing the state in the apex court.

–IANS

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