Supreme Court Judge Justice BV Nagarathna on Saturday remarked that governors in India were overstepping their roles in some areas and failing to act when needed, adding that the cases involving governors currently before the Supreme Court were a "sad story."

Justice Nagarathna’s statement came in the backdrop of Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments moving to the top court alleging that their governors were withholding assent to certain Bills. Besides, the court, in a separate matter, agreed to examine the issue of immunity for governors from criminal prosecution under Article 361 of the Constitution.

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Delivering the speech at the NLSIU PACT Conference in Bengaluru, Justice Nagarathna said, “In today’s times unfortunately some of the Governors in India are playing a role where they ought not to and are inactive where they ought to be. Cases against the Governors in the Supreme Court is a sad story on the constitutional position of the Governor in India.”

Asserting that the governors do not belong to any political party and hence should be neutral, she added, “Certain functions are expected to be discharged by the Governor. We want to introduce the Governor in our Constitution because we thought that an element of harmony would be there and that institution would bring about some sort of understanding and harmony between the conflicting groups of people if really the Governor is conscious of his duties and he functions well. It is only for this purpose this is proposed. The governing idea is to place the governor above party politics, above factions and not to subject him to the party affairs.”

Notably, several governors have been at loggerheads with their respective governments in the states. A dispute is ongoing between Karnataka governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot and the Congress government in the state over the alleged MUDA (Mysore Urban Development Authority) site allotment scam.

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Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann had also challenged couple of ruling by state’s former governor Banwari Lal Purohit. Besides, governors in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have also confronted their CMs on several issues.