Governors should examine Bills within reasonable time: Goa Governor

Goa Governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju said, “Governors need to examine the bills passed by the elected assembly within a reasonable period of time.”

He was speaking to a group of journalists from Kerala who visited Lok Bhavan in Panjim last week as part of a press tour organized by the Press Information Bureau.

Answer to a question Hindu Regarding the not-so-cordial relations between Governors and some State governments, including Kerala, and the pendency of Bills, he said some conflicts need to be analyzed and rectified if necessary.

“I have not done an analysis on Kerala. My personal view is that a Governor should examine Bills within a reasonable time, but what is reasonable needs to be defined. I do not think this is the right way to impose time limits by law. We Governors are not rulers. We are all civil servants. In other words, we are creatures of the Constitution of India. As a Governor, you have to be more constitutionally oriented,” said Mr. Raju, who served as Union Civil Aviation Minister in the past.

As many as 14 bills passed by the Kerala Assembly are currently pending before the Governor. Mr. Raju said there should be a respectful relationship between governments and Governors, just like in a “family”.

“I remember that the practice of keeping bills pending started from Andhra Pradesh. A former Governor gleefully sat on eight bills passed by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. There were cartoons in the press showing the Governor sitting with his thumb bandaged, indicating that he was too injured to sign. A consultation process took place after the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relations gave its recommendations. Some Governors, like some Chief Ministers, are known to be irrational. Now, the Tamil Nadu-appointed Justice Kurian Joseph Committee has passed the bills. “We need to further develop these relations. We need to respect each other,” he said.

Mr. Raju said he was not in favor of State governments using the Governor’s Policy Speech to criticize laws passed by Parliament.

“If a State government wants to criticize any step of the Union government, it can criticize it in the Parliament. There is no need for them to make the governor criticize the laws passed by the Parliament, because the government has also implemented these clauses to the best of their understanding,” he said.