President, governor only titular heads; bound by advice of council of ministers: Karnataka to SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress-led Karnataka government on Tuesday asserted before the Supreme Court that under the constitutional scheme, the President and governors are only "titular heads" and are bound to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers, both at the Centre and in the states.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice BR Gavai was told by senior advocate Gopal Subramanian, appearing for the Karnataka government, that Article 361 of the Constitution grants immunity to the President and the governor from any criminal proceedings, as they do not perform any executive function.
Referring to various verdicts of the apex court, Subramanian told a bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar that the satisfaction of governor required for acting on bills passed by assembly, is the satisfaction of the council of ministers.
Resuming his argument 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.
Chief Justice of India Gavai asked Subramanian whether under section 197 of CrpC, which relates to prior sanction to prosecute public servants does the government have to act on aid and advice of council of ministers.
The senior lawyer said there are several judgments of this 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 TMC-ruled state government had submitted that governors cannot question the will of the sovereign and proceed to examine the legislative competence of a bill passed by the assembly, which falls under judiciary's domain.
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.
In May, President Murmu exercised powers under Article 143(1) to know from the top court whether judicial orders could impose timelines for the exercise of discretion by the President while dealing with bills passed by state assemblies.
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Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
