Spirit of law has to be protected: Kerala Governor

Thiruvananthapuram:

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday said that legislatures represent the will of the people and the spirit of the law and the intent of the legislature should be protected.

“My government is committed to the constitutional value that the intention of the legislature should be given effect to as law,” said Governor Arif Mohammad Khan in his policy address to the state legislative assembly on the occasion of the beginning of the budget session.

The governor said this as the state government is awaiting his assent on some bills aimed at removing him as the chancellor of universities in the state.

In his address, Mr Khan said the Constitution has provided legislative space for the Union and the States and therefore, intrusion into the legislative domain of the States “does not bode well for a cooperative federal system”.

“The checks and balances in the system must be carefully followed for the healthy functioning of our democratic system. Legislative Assemblies represent the will of the people.

“The spirit of the law and the intent of the legislature must be protected,” the governor said.

He further said that his government is committed to protecting constitutional values ​​”which are currently facing many challenges”. “Tendencies of hegemony in religious, linguistic and other spheres hinder the building of a strong democracy, which respects diversity to strengthen its unity,” Khan said.

Therefore, special efforts need to be made to protect democracy, secularism, pluralistic values ​​and federalism, important foundations of our national unity and part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

In a policy address, Governor Arif Mohammad also said that a strong nation must have a strong Centre, strong states and pro-active local governments.

He said that recent restrictions on the state’s borrowing capabilities are hindering their ability to intervene in the health, education and infrastructure sectors.

“The politics of the country needs strong organs to be strong. States have heavy responsibilities in social sectors and their financial position should be strong.

“Recent measures to reduce the borrowing limits of states have reduced the scope of their interventions in the health, education and infrastructure sectors,” the governor said.

Mr Khan said that fiscal discipline has to be implemented properly, adding “there cannot be different norms for state governments, which are not applicable to the central government”.

Freedom of the press was a “cardinal” feature of a strong democracy and free and fair media activities have to be protected, another issue he talked about in the policy address.

Governor Arif Mohammad said that there have been incidents of curtailing the freedom of the press in different ways in some parts of the country and his government has always been committed to protect the freedom of the media.

He also emphasized that there was a far-fetched perception that the agencies authorized to investigate matters relating to compliance with the laws were acting in a manner which is at variance with the professionalism expected of them.

The 33-day budget session of the Kerala Legislative Assembly began with the Governor’s policy address and is scheduled to end on March 30.

The debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address is to be held on January 25, February 1 and 2.

Finance Minister KN Balagopal will present the budget of the LDF government for the next financial year on February 3.

The legislature will debate the budget for three days from February 6 to 8.