Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has submitted a writ petition to the Supreme Court against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan concerning his refusal to approve eight bills passed by the state legislature.

This conduct also hinders the rights of the people of the state

The petition highlights that three of these bills have been pending before the Governor for over two years.

The petition said, “The conduct of the governor, as will be demonstrated, threatens to undermine and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundations of our constitution, including the rule of law and democratic governance. This conduct also hinders the rights of the people of the state to the welfare measures aimed at being implemented through the Bills.”

The eight pending bills that were presented to the governor for his approval under Article 200 of the Constitution are 2 University Laws Amendment bills (1st amendment) in 2021, University Laws Amendment Bill (2nd amendment) in 2021, Kerala Co-operative Societies Amendment Bill in 2022, University Laws Amendment Bill in 2022, Kerala Lokayukta Amendment Bill in 2022, University Laws Amendment Bill in 2022, and Public Health Bill in 2021.

Kerala, preceded by Punjab and Telangana, became the third state to move court against the governors’ refusal to give assent to the bills.