The President and governors are only “titular heads” under the constitutional scheme and are bound to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers, at the Centre as well as in the states, Karnataka government told the Supreme Court Tuesday.
Senior advocate Gopal Subramanian, representing the Karnataka government, told a Chief Justice BR Gavai-led five-judge Constitution bench, that Article 361 of the Constitution grants immunity to the President and the governors from any criminal proceedings, since they do not perform any executive duty.
Referring to several judgments of the apex court, Subramanian said that the satisfaction of governor required for acting on bills, passed by assembly, is the satisfaction of the council of ministers.
On the eighth day of hearing on the Presidential reference on whether the court could impose timelines for governors and President to deal with bills passed by state assemblies, Subramanian submitted that the Constitution does not provide any parallel administration in the state alongside the elected government.
Subramanian said there are various verdicts of the Supreme Court, where it has been held that the governor acts independent of aid and advice of the council of ministers and exercises its discretion with regard to section 197 of CrPC.
On September 3, the West Bengal government argued before the top court that the will of the people in the form of a bill cannot be subjected to “whims and fancies” of governors and the President as the executive is barred from interfering with the legislative process.
The court is examining 14 questions referred by President Droupadi Murmu, including whether constitutional authorities can indefinitely withhold assent to bills and whether courts can impose mandatory time frames.
— with inputs from PTI
