Supreme Court seeks response to PIL alleging Guv’s ‘inaction’ on assenting Bill passed by Assembly

Kolkata: In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging inaction of Governor C V Ananda Bose in assenting to Bills passed by the state Assembly, the Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Principal Secretary to the Governor.

The Bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala issued a notice. According to a news agency, the Apex Court had sought a response from the Principal Secretary to the Governor and Principal Secretary of the Higher Education department.

The petition challenges the inaction on the part of the Governor to give assent to the West Bengal Universities (Amendment) Bill 2022. In September 2023, the Calcutta High Court had called for affidavits from the Governor’s office with regards to the same Bill, which was passed by the state legislature in June 2022.

The Bill proposes to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of state universities. However, on October 16, 2023, the Bench had stayed its earlier directions seeking response and it was observed that the Court would first hear the issue of maintainability of the PIL.