Historic, ‘victory for all states’, says TN; Governors should heed ‘warning’, says Kerala

He also called it a vindication of federalism, the autonomy of states and Dravidian politics. “The fight for state autonomy and federalism will continue… and Tamil Nadu will win it,” he said.

The Kerala government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, which also went to the Supreme Court against previous Governor Arif Mohammed Khan holding its Bills, called Tuesday’s verdict “a victory of democracy” and “a warning against the tendency of governors to usurp the powers of the Assembly”.

Vijayan pointed to the similarities with Kerala, “where consent for Bills had been withheld for even 23 months” and the state’s legal battle over it. “This verdict underscores the significance and importance of such issues raised by Kerala,” the CM said, adding that the Court had upheld the federal system and the democratic rights of the Assembly.

In a statement, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which is in power in Jharkhand in a coalition including the Congress and RJD, said it “wholeheartedly welcomes the landmark verdict”. Pointing to the Court making it clear “that governors cannot act as political gatekeepers by indefinitely withholding assent to Bills”, the JMM said: “This judgment is a powerful affirmation of the principles of federalism and parliamentary democracy enshrined in our Constitution.”

The order’s implications would “reverberate across the country”, the JMM said, pointing to the role played by the Governor in Jharkhand, “in defiance of democratic norms”. Several Bills passed by the JMM government led by Hemant Soren are pending, including the 1932-domicile-based local policy Bill, the ST/SC/OBC reservation enhancement Bill, and the anti-mob lynching Bill.

“We demand that the Governor of Jharkhand take immediate cognizance of the Supreme Court’s judgment,” the JMM said.

The Telangana government, which has amicable ties with the Raj Bhavan, did not react officially to the Supreme Court verdict. Off the record, a Telangana CMO source said they welcome the judgment “as it is in the spirit of democracy and federalism”. “As Stalin is our ally, we are happy for Tamil Nadu,” the source said.

Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said the Supreme Court ruling was “a clear-cut direction to all governors to not exceed their brief, and not to interfere in the regular administration of the state”. “We have seen governors in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka… wherever there are Opposition-ruled states, how badly they have behaved and how they have been misused by the Modi government,” the Congress leader said.

Currently, 13 Bills passed by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka are pending assent from the Governor. Four of these were passed by the state government in July 2024, two during the Winter Session later in the year, while nine were passed during the Budget Session last month.

TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar said that the Supreme Court order “signifies the abnormal use of the constitutional post of Governor in an attempt to harass and control non-BJP governments”.

With the party government in West Bengal in near constant friction with the Raj Bhavan, Majumdar said: “We hope that the Narendra Modi government will take the bold and clear message of the order that such hegemony of governors cannot be tolerated anywhere in India.”

In a social media post, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin said: “This is another crucial step in restoring balance in Union-State relations and a landmark victory in Tamil Nadu’s continuous struggle to usher in a truly federal India.”

Stalin’s son and Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin posted on X that the state’s legal battle “has once again shone light on the entire nation”, and that CM Stalin “has once again registered a significant victory in his steadfast commitment to protect state rights and resist attempts to impose a unitary structure on the country”.

DMK Rajya Sabha MP and advocate P Wilson, who represented Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court, hailed the “HUGE WIN for the DMK government”.

All other parties in Tamil Nadu also welcomed the verdict, barring the AIADMK and BJP. Taking a dig at the two parties’ silence, Leader of the House Duraimurugan said: “Those remaining silent on this historic development will be confined as opposed to the verdict in history.”

Congress MP from Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu Sasikanth Senthil posted that the verdict was a clear message that “governors are not above democracy”. “This is not just a legal victory, but a political blow to the Modi government.”

Kerala ministers P Rajeev and K Rajan also issued statements welcoming the Supreme Court order. Almost all arguments made by Kerala in its case against the stalling of Bills were covered in Tamil Nadu’s plea, Rajeev told reporters.

When Khan served as the Kerala governor, eight Bills passed by the Assembly from 2022 to 2023 were pending with Raj Bhavan. After Khan neither gave his assent to the Bills nor referred them to the President, the Kerala government in November 2023 moved the Supreme Court against him.

After the Supreme Court then observed that governors could not “thwart the normal course of lawmaking”, Khan gave assent to one Bill and referred seven for presidential assent. Last year, the President cleared four Bills, but assent was withheld for three, including one envisaged to divest the Governor from the position of chancellor of universities in Kerala.

-with ENS inputs from Ranchi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata