The Left-ruled Kerala on Tuesday said it will consider with "utmost seriousness" the proposal by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to pass a resolution in the state Assembly to fix a time limit for Governors to approve bills passed by respective assemblies.

This was informed by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan through a letter to Stalin who had proposed to pass a resolution in the Kerala Assembly similar to that passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislature to fix the time limit for Governors to approve the bills.

In his reply to the letter sent by Stalin on April 11, Vijayan said as defenders of the federal spirit of our Constitution, "we have to cooperate in every effort to prevent the curtailing of the functioning of elected state governments." "Even though the time period for giving assent to the bills is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, it has to be a reasonable one," he said.

Vijayan said going by the experience of many states, the Justice M N Venkatachaliah Commission to review the working of the Constitution and the Justice M M Punchi Commission on Union-State Relations have recommended mentioning a time limit, within which the Governor has to take a decision on giving assent to bills, in Article 200.

"In this matter, we are ready to extend wholehearted cooperation to you and will consider the proposal in your letter with utmost seriousness," the Kerala CM said in the letter.

In his April 11 letter to Vijayan, Stalin explained the circumstances that forced the Tamil Nadu Assembly to pass a resolution to fix a time limit for the governors to approve bills passed by the respective legislatures and requested the Kerala CM to extend his support in this regard to uphold the sovereignty and self-respect of the state governments and the legislatures by passing a similar resolution in the Kerala Assembly.

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