Kerala CM writes to the Governor; Governor sticks to his stand, dismisses CM's letter

A stand-off between the State Government and the Governor in Kerala ensued after the latter denied the State Cabinet’s recommendation to summon a special assembly session. CM Vijayan had alleged that the Governor’s action is against the Constitution, which the Governor denied outrightly.

Thiruvananthapuram: In the continuing stand-off between the State Government and the Governor in Kerala, which started after Governor Arif Mohammed Khan denied the State Cabinet’s recommendation to summon a special assembly session, the Governor has now responded to the Kerala Chief Minister’s letter marking his protest, here on Wednesday.

In the reply, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan dismissed the CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s claims in the letter and maintained that there is no exigency warranting a special one-day assembly session. Kerala Chief Minister had written to the Governor marking his protest and reminding the Governor on his discretionary powers and informing him on the State decision, on Wednesday. In the response, Arif Mohammed Khan said, there has been no violation of the Constitution in the matter.

Pinarayi Vijayan had alleged that the Governor’s action is against the Constitution, which the Governor denied outrightly. Meanwhile, even though the State Ministers and the Opposition leader had criticised the Governor’s move in public and alleged it to be politically driven, the CM has restrained from criticising the Governor in the public. In the programme which was held to declare solidarity to the farmers’ protest, there was no mention about the Governor’s objection on convening a special session to pass a resolution against the farm bills.

Even as the Governor turned down the State Government’s recommendations twice and refused to convene a special assembly session to discuss on emergent matters of public interest and pass a resolution against the controversial farm bill in the assembly, the Government has not dropped the plan. The State now intends to pass the resolution during the budget session of the assembly.

The budget session of the Assembly would be convened on January 8. The Government is to jointly discuss the matter with the Opposition. In this situation, the State has decided not to convene a special session for this purpose.

Kerala Chief Minister had handed over an official letter on the matter to the Governor, here on Wednesday. Rejecting Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s contention that there was no exigency to hold a special session, CM Pinarayi Vijayan has informed the Governor on the need for the same.

The farmers’ protests against the Centre’s farm bills in different parts of the country have scaled up to the present level on in the recent days. Kerala, which is a consumer state when it comes to food produces, depends on other States for their farm produces. Hence, Kerala is perturbed by the issues faced by the farmer communities and those affecting the field of agriculture, the CM said. State Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar had met the CM in person to discuss the farmers’ problems.

The Governor’s move denying the State permission to convene a special assembly session is a violation of section 174 (1) of the Indian Constitution, he said.

The CM also reminded the Governor that the State Government is bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers to convene an Assembly session or to conclude a session. The Governor has no discretionary powers in the matter. The President of India and the Governors of the States in India are to act as per the advice of the State Cabinet. The Supreme Court had made it clear that in the case between the State of Punjab and Shamseer Singh in 1975, the SC clearly stated the constitutional principle in the matter. The Sarkaria Commission (the commission which examined and suggested changes in the Centre-State relationships) had underlined that when a State Government which has a clear majority in the Assembly recommends summoning a session, the Governor is bound to abide by the recommendation.

When the State’s Council of ministers recommends summoning an assembly session, the Governor has no discretionary powers to deny it. The protocol also is the same, the CM said, in the letter.

In the response to this letter, the Governor dismissed the CM’s claims and added that the State Government has not been able to clarify on the exigency warranting to convene a one-day assembly session. Khan sticks to his stand. Governor’s denial to convene the special assembly session has triggered protests and agitations in Kerala.