Amid the ongoing legal battle over pending bills, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, in an exclusive interview to News 18, said the state government was trying to “short-circuit the entire system by transferring the fiscal responsibility to the universities”, and the pending bills were money bills that could not be placed before the state assembly without the prior approval of the Governor.
Stating that he stands his ground legally and constitutionally on the matter, Governor Khan said the court did not send a notice to him seeking his response on the same.
Arif Mohammed Khan was in Delhi on Tuesday to attend a conclave – ‘Bridging South’ — organised by Kerala’s weekly magazine ‘Kesari’ in collaboration with RSS’s knowledge think tank ‘Prajna Pravah’ whose national coordinator J Nandakumar was also present.
Speaking with News 18, the Kerala Governor mentioned the issues related to the Governor’s office, the pending bills, its legal implications and the financial status of the state government. He said the comments made by senior politicians referring to ‘Sanatan’ and statements concerning the ‘north-south divide’ post the results of the assembly elections were “political” and would “fade from people’s mind” soon.
On Pending Bills
The Kerala government had moved the Supreme Court last month against the Governor regarding the delay in clearing Bills passed by the Assembly. Khan said he had cleared one of the eight pending bills, and reserved seven others for consideration of the President.
“The court has not said anything. It has not issued a notice to me or to Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi. Court is the custodian of justice. Do you want me to believe that it is violating the demand of natural justice?” Khan asked.
“Court has not even issued a notice to me, they have issued it to the secretary of Raj Bhavan. I am responsible to the President of India. I am appointed by the same authority, which appoints many other constitutional office, and all these cases (of pending bills) reached the court, what is the outcome? If the attorney general requests me to not keep the bills on my table, but if it is a money bill, which can’t be presented before the House without the Governor’s approval?” he asked.
According to Article 200 of the Constitution, the Governor can give assent to the Bill, may withhold assent to the Bill, reject the Bill, in which case, it fails to become a law, and may return the Bill (if it is not a money bill) for reconsideration for the State Legislature or reserve the Bill for consideration of the President.
Elaborating on the reasons for not clearing the bills, the Governor said, “To short-circuit the entire system, the (Kerala) government wants to transfer the fiscal responsibility to the universities, is this not sheer deception? The universities are also getting money from the central and state governments. In my opinion, that was a money bill, and the government cannot table the bill in the assembly without the prior approval of the Governor. Eight bills were pending, and I have cleared one. I have reserved the rest for consideration of the President. That is my stand. But if the court does not issue a notice to me, what do I do? I think the court is also giving a clear message that these offices are not subjected to judiciary”.
‘Universities Will Lose Autonomy If…’
The Kerala Governor also explained why the attempts by the state government to remove him from the position of chancellors may turn detrimental for the students and why he stopped the related bills.
“Today, Governors are the chancellors of the universities. But the state government wants to remove him, and appoint others as chancellor of the university. There will be some expenditure involved for that, and the state has to make provision for it. If you make a provision in the bill, then you need prior approval of the Governor. In order to avoid the approval, and to short circuit the constitutional provision, the state said the expenses would be looked after by the university. How can this happen? Universities do not have an independent source of income. They depend on the state and central governments. So, essentially this is a money bill and I will not clear it,” he said.
“But the Supreme Court did not ask me or express a need for me to go there and reply. The notice was issued to the secretary of Raj Bhavan. Now, can the secretary force me to sign the bill? What purpose does it serve? He cannot catch hold of my hand and make me sign it. I have not received any notice issued by the court as of now. I stand by the constitutional and legal grounds,” he added.
“When they (politicians) make comment about the governors, they should never forget that for centuries India was badly fragmented politically. The centrifugal mindset is still alive. The office of the Governors was created to keep a watch on this centrifugal and divisive forces, so that they don’t gain strength,” he further said.
Stating that the autonomy of the universities would be at stake if Governors are removed from the position of chancellors, Khan said, “Whenever and wherever the governments try to remove Governor from the position of the chancellor of universities, the students in large numbers will migrate to central universities. All over the world, universities are autonomous. Autonomy means free from executive interferences. If any university has executive interferences in its function, its degrees will lose value”.
Reacting to the statements made by several senior politicians questioning Governor’s actions, Khan said, “I am the representative of President, not of any government including the central or state. I do not waste my energy paying attention to such ignorant people who say that the Governors have become representatives of the Centre. Their opinions should be dismissed with contempt”.
On Sanatan Dharma Controversy
The politicians, who are making such references and commenting in a disrespectful way about Sanatan Dharma, are not taken seriously by people, not even by their family members, said the Governor.
“I don’t like to give importance at all. Those who are making such irresponsible statements do not even affect their family members. The person who made a statement asking people to liquidate Sanatan could not even convince his mother about his opinion. Sanatan is not a religion, it is a way of life. Ten days later, the mother of the person who made such a statement came to Guruvayur Devaswom temple in Kerala for a spiritual solace. Why should we give importance to such statements? Those making such irresponsible statements can’t even stop their own family members from expressing devotion,” he said.
“These are only political statements, and this is a passing phase. They themselves will not remember these things after elections. Therefore, I won’t like to give them any importance,” he quipped.
About the controversy over ‘north-south divide’, which came to fore after the results of the elections, Khan said, “I feel that the name of the conclave should have been ‘Bridging North’ instead of ‘Bridging South’. Bharat is not in Delhi or Mumbai. The main character of India is there in diversity”.
Prohibition of RSS Drills in Kerala Temples
In October, the Travancore Devaswom Board said all activities of the RSS and its affiliates with “extreme ideologies”, without permission, have been prohibited. The Governor, however, said these orders were issued with “ulterior political motive”.
“The Kerala government has so many pressing issues and real problems to deal with. The government has no money to pay the pension of the people who served for 30 to 35 years. Through an affidavit, the chief secretary has said before the Kerala High Court, that the government is not in a position to honour the financial guarantees it had given. And the state government is now indulging in such trivia things that who is exercising where. These orders are all political. Nobody takes them seriously. Even the persons who pass these orders also do not take them seriously,” he further said.
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