Supreme Court Addresses West Bengal and Kerala Bills' Assent Issue

The Supreme Court has asked for responses from the Centre and the governors' secretaries of West Bengal and Kerala regarding state government pleas against the denial of assent to bills, which were referred to the president for consideration. Notices were issued to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the respective secretaries.

The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and the secretaries to the governors of West Bengal and Kerala on separate pleas of the two state governments against denial of assent to bills and referring those for the consideration of the president.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Paridwala, and Justice Manoj Misra issued notices to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the secretaries to both the governors.

Senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for Kerala, said they were challenging the governor's decision to refer bills for consideration by the president.

Similarly, senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Jaideep Gupta, appearing for West Bengal, said every time the matter was listed in the Supreme Court, the office of the governor referred bills to the president.

(With inputs from agencies.)