SC seeks reply of Centre, Kerala governor's office on state govt plea on delay in assenting bills
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and the office of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on a plea of the state government accusing him of not granting assent to several bills cleared by the legislative assembly.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate K K Venugopal, alleging delay on the part of the governor in granting assent to eight bills.
The top court also issued a notice to Attorney General R Venkataramani asking that either he or Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assist it in the hearing. The court will now hear the Kerala government's plea on Friday.
"This is an endemic situation. The governors do not realise that they are part of the legislature under Article 168 of the Constitution," Venugopal said.
In its plea, the state of Kerala claimed that Governor Khan is delaying the consideration of eight bills that have been passed by the state assembly.
"Mr Venugopal submits that- 1. The governor is a part of legislature under Art 162; 2. The governor had promulgated three ordinances which were later converted into those passed by legislature; 3. As many as eight bills are pending consideration for assent ranging from 7 to 21 months," the bench said in its order.
The Kerala government has claimed that the governor is delaying the bills by withholding his assent and this is "defeating the rights of the people".
A similar plea has been filed by the Tamil Nadu government as well and is also being heard by the apex court.
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
