The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on February 29 (Thursday) sought to portray the Presidential assent to the Kerala Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Bill as an oblique critique of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s “obstinate refusal” to sign laws passed by the Legislative Assembly.
However, Raj Bhavan in Kerala appeared to punch holes in the LDF’s narrative. It pointedly stressed its stance on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) with the post: “It is informed that the Hon’ble President of India has withheld assent to three Bills which Hon’ble Governor Shri Arif Mohammed Khan had referred to Rashtrapati Bhavan for consideration”.
These included Kerala University Laws (Amendment) Bill seeking to divest the Governor of the power of the Chancellor of State universities.
The President also withheld assent to another University Laws Amendment Bill that aspired to expand the search committee to appoint Vice-Chancellors.
Rashtrapati Bhavan was also yet to give its approval to another law relating to the administration of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU).
Raj Bhavan said Mr. Khan had sent seven Bills to the President for consideration, of which only the Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Bill received Rashtrapati Bhavan’s nod.
Minister defends amendment
Kerala Law Minister P. Rajeeve and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State Secretary M.V. Govindan portrayed the Presidential nod for the Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Bill as a victory for the government and a let-down for Mr. Khan.
Mr. Rajeeve defended the latest amendment by stating that the law in its original form lacked an appeal provision and such absolute power was Constitutionally untenable and violative of natural justice.
He said the Parliamentary Standing Committee that vetted the original Lokpal Act (Central law) had invested State legislatures with the power to make comparable legal forums and amend the relevant laws suitably. Hence, the latest Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Bill, he argued, was well within the State’s legislative prerogatives.
BJP, CPI(M) on same page: Satheesan
Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the CPI(M) were on the same page on corruption.
The BJP hobbled the Prevention of Corruption (Act) by inserting the proviso that the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) required administrative sanction to investigate or prosecute a government servant or holder of a public office for suspected corruption, he said.
Mr. Satheesan said the CPI(M) “emasculated” the Lok Ayukta by passing a law that vested the political executive with the power to review, accept or reject the anti-corruption ombudsman’s decisions. The BJP-led Central government fast-tracked the process, Mr. Satheesan alleged.
Will move HC: Chennithala
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the amendment to the Lok Ayukta Act that sought to “defang” the anti-corruption watchdog would not stand legal scrutiny. He said the law ran against the judicial diktat that “no person could be a judge in his own cause”. He said the Congress would challenge the legislation in the Kerala High Court.
In December last, Mr. Khan sought to cap two years of bitter political and legal wrangling between Raj Bhavan and the Kerala government over the non-signing of Bills passed by the Assembly by referring the contentious laws to the President for consideration.
However, Mr. Khan signed the Kerala Public Health Bill 2022 into law in 2023 after the Supreme Court asked Mr. Khan’s office to factor in its latest judgment holding Governors responsible for acting within the four corners of the State legislature without flexing a non-existent veto power over Bills presented to them for assent.
Mr. Khan’s exercise of the Governor’s power under Article 200 of the Constitution to reserve laws passed by the Assembly for Presidential consideration disconcerted the LDF government.
The move grated on the government primarily because the Constitution imposed no deadline on the President to decide on the outcome of a Bill.
The government challenged Mr. Khan’s perceived gambit by petitioning the Supreme Court. It requested the court to spell out the circumstances under which the Governor could reserve laws passed by the Assembly for the consideration of the President.
It also argued that Mr. Khan’s decision to reserve the Bills for the President’s consideration was an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court directive.
The government also requested the apex court to lay down guidelines regarding the Governor’s prerogative to withhold assent for legislation and set a deadline for sending them back to the Assembly.
It argued that the Governor was trying to “defeat the rights of the people” of the State by indefinitely sitting on crucial Bills.
The government said the Governor’s “arbitrary show of a lack of urgency” to sign Bills into law was an egregious trespass on the fundamental right to life of the people of Kerala.
