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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23-year-old woman found dead at Delhi home; suicide suspected
New Delhi (PTI): A 23-year-old woman was found dead in her house in Delhi's Prem Nagar area, with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide, an official said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Anjali Singh, was found motionless in her room on Monday by her sister and her neighbour.
Police said her father, Vinod Kumar Singh (51), told them that he and his wife were away at work at the time of the incident, while their son and the other daughter were also not at home at the time of the incident.
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According to the family, the room in which Anjali was found was locked from the inside. The door was later forcibly opened by a neighbour and her sister with the help of a crowbar.
Her body was found lying on the bed inside the room, police said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Anjali had allegedly hanged herself using a piece of cloth tied to the ceiling fan.
It is suspected that the noose eventually might have loosened or torn off, resulting in her being found lying on the bed.
Family members informed the police that Anjali was a final-year student of a librarian science course from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). About a week ago, her final-year examination results were declared, and she had failed, following which she had been under depression, they said.
The family has not raised any allegation of foul play, police said, adding that no suicide note or external injury marks were found on the body during the initial inspection.
Inquest proceedings have been initiated in the matter as per the law. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death, and further investigation is underway, police added.
