New Delhi: On March 23, Kerala moved the Supreme Court against President Draupadi Murmu for withholding assent to four out of seven bills passed by the state assembly, as reported BarAndBench. Kerala has also moved the court against Governor Mohammed Arif Khan for keeping his assent on bills pending for months – from between seven to 24 months — and referring them to Murmu when there was no need to.Four of seven bills not given assentLast year, the Kerala state assembly passed several bills including seven — some of which were also in public interest — the state said as it approached the Supreme Court against Murmu for withholding assent to four of those seven bills. The president has also not given any reason for withholding assent to these bills, Kerala said.The Kerala government has argued that the president withholding assent to the bills “subverts and disrupts” the federal structure of the Indian constitution, reported BarAndBench.The seven bills included the state’s amendments to the University Laws (dated 2021 and 2022), the Kerala Lokayukta Amendment bill and the Kerala Cooperative Societies Amendment bill of 2022.None of the seven bills pertained to Centre-state relations and therefore did not require the assent of the President, Kerala maintained in its argument at the Court, BarAndBench reported.Kerala challenges actions of governor The Kerala government has also moved the Supreme Court against its governor Mohammmed Arif Khan for reserving the seven bills for the President when he could have dealt with them himself. The state has argued in its petition that two of the seven bills remained with the governor for around 24 months before he passed it to the President for assent; the other five remained with the governor for between seven to 16 months.Khan’s inaction regarding the bills has “subverted the functioning of the legislature of the state and rendered its existence itself ineffective and otiose”, BarAndBench reported.Kerala has also alleged that the governor did not inform the President that the bills remained with him for so many months, pending assent. This amounts to a violation of Article 200 of the Indian Constitution, as per which the governor has to send such bills to the President as soon as possible.Apart from Kerala, states such as Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have raised similar concerns to the Supreme Court about their governors.