“This is an endemic situation,” said Venugopal, while submitting that the governor had promulgated three ordinances which were later converted into bills passed by legislature.
The Kerala government has argued that when the governor is delaying the assent of bills, it is “defeating the rights of the people”.
The state government’s petition stated, “The conduct of the Governor, as would presently be demonstrated, threatens to defeat and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundations of our Constitution, including the rule of law and democratic good governance, apart from defeating the rights of the people of the State to the welfare measures sought to be implemented through the Bills.”
Of the eight bills, three have remained pending with the governor for more than two years, and three for more than a year.