The State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) on Friday said the Supreme Court’s finding — that the apex judiciary cannot prescribe a time limit for the President and governors to grant or withhold assent to bills passed by state legislatures — did not provide any resolution to the pressing constitutional question of whether laws passed by provincial governments can be kept at bay.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan said former attorney general and lawyer Mukul Rohatgi termed the Supreme Court order as “confusing and against the spirit of cooperative federalism”.
“A judgment that can be avoided”
Mr. Govindan said the Supreme Court’s decision had left state governments, especially non-BJP administrations, and the public confused. By setting aside an earlier two-judge Division Bench ruling that said long delays by governors in deciding bills passed by the Assembly would give the provincial government the power to treat the bills as passed, the SC inadvertently opened the door to unnecessary delay litigation.
The Division Bench judgment correctly set deadlines for governors to decide on the laws and subsequently upheld states’ federal rights by allowing them to treat any delay without valid reason as “deemed consent,” he said. Several state governments have found the Constitutional Court ruling unsatisfactory and seriously inadequate to resolve the conflict, the CPI(M) state secretary said.
On SIR
“The CPI(M)’s legal and political fight against the SIR would go in line with its efforts to ensure that every voter above the age of 18 in Kerala finds their place on the electoral roll,” he said. Mr. Govindan accused the Election Commission of India (EC) of driving government employees to the brink of despair and suicide by unnecessarily pressuring them to complete the SIR process in addition to their duties related to local body elections.
Mr. Govindan accused the Congress of toeing the BJP’s political line by demanding a CBI probe into the Sabarimala gold theft case. “Congress has suddenly signaled its lack of confidence in the investigation being monitored by the Supreme Court,” he said.
“The Congress has delayed legislative business in the Assembly for days by parroting BJP’s malicious propaganda that the government was somehow guilty in the Sabarimala gold theft case. The opposition has deliberately chosen to ignore that the government has sought a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the crime,” he added.
Mr. Govindan accused the Congress of spawning Hindu-majority communalism by short-sightedly courting conservative Islamist forces for a “few votes” in local polls.
Published – 21 Nov 2025 20:33 IST
