Left opposes presidential reference to Supreme Court on deadlines for governors

The Left parties on 15 May, Thursday, condemned the Centre for using the presidential reference route to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion on its ruling on deadlines for governors over bills.

In a post on X, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby quoted a post on the issue by Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin and said his party is opposed to the move.

“CPI(M) opposes the decision of the central government to opt for a presidential reference to the recent Supreme Court judgement on the Tamil Nadu govt’s petition on the role of governors withholding 10 bills passed by the legislature,” Baby said.

“The governors are acting at the behest of the ruling party BJP, and obstructing the functioning of opposition-led state governments. They are violating the federal principles enshrined in our Constitution. All the non-BJP state governments should condemn this move and join together in the fight against centralisation of powers at the cost of states’ rights,” he said.

Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D. Raja also condemned the Union government’s move.

“The CPI strongly condemns the BJP-led Union government’s move — via a Presidential Reference — to question the Supreme Court’s April 8 verdict mandating a timeline for governors to assent to bills passed by state assemblies,” he said in a post on X.

“The judgment came in response to repeated, undemocratic delays by governors in opposition-ruled states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala — where the British Raj relic of governor’s office is being weaponised to block the will of the people,” Raja added.

He said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should make it clear what objections it has with a time-bound process to give assent to legislations “that have already been passed twice by a democratically-elected legislature”.

“Why does the BJP want to trample the will of the people using the unaccountable office of governor?” Raja asked.

“India is a federal polity according to Article 1 of our Constitution. Once again, the BJP’s anti-federal fangs are out, for everyone to see,” the CPI leader added.

President Droupadi Murmu has exercised her powers under Article 143(1) of the Constitution, used in rare cases, to know from the Supreme Court whether timelines could be imposed by judicial orders for the exercise of discretion by the president while dealing with bills passed by state assemblies.

The president’s decision comes in light of the 8 April verdict of the apex court, passed in a matter over the powers of governors in dealing with bills that were questioned by the Tamil Nadu government.

The verdict, for the first time, said the president should decide on the bills reserved for her consideration by governors within three months from the date on which such reference is received.

The Centre has resorted to the presidential reference instead of seeking a review of the verdict, which has evoked sharp reactions in the political spectrum.

Rules prescribe for review petitions to be heard by the same set of judges in the apex court in chambers, while presidential references are heard and considered by a five-judge Constitution bench.

The apex court, however, may choose to refuse to answer any or all of the questions raised in the reference.