Governor cannot keep bills passed by assembly pending indefinitely: SC on TN Government’s petition

In an important decision, the Supreme Court has clarified that the Governor cannot keep the bills passed by the Assembly pending indefinitely. The court said that if the Governor wants, he can return a bill to the Assembly for reconsideration, but if the Assembly passes the bill again and sends it as before, then the Governor has no option but to approve it. He cannot stop it in the name of sending it to the President.

This historic decision has come on the petition of the Tamil Nadu government, in which Governor R. N. Ravi was accused of not approving 10 bills passed by the Assembly and keeping them on hold for a long time. The Tamil Nadu government had said that one of these bills has been pending since January 2020. Some bills have been passed again and sent to the Governor, yet he is talking about sending them to the President.

At the same time, it was argued on behalf of the Governor that he had informed the state government about the bills being stopped and sending some bills to the President comes under his jurisdiction.

However, a bench comprising Justice J. B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan declared the Governor’s actions unconstitutional. The judges stated that the Constitution does not provide the Governor with a "veto" power and emphasized that it is the Governor’s duty to respect the will of the elected legislature.

The Court interpreted Article 200 of the Constitution and exercised its special powers due to the delay in this case. It directed that the 10 bills re-passed by the Assembly should be considered as having received the Governor’s assent on the date they were resent.

Along with this, the court has also fixed the time limit for decision on the bills. If the Governor wants to send the bill back for reconsideration, then he will have to take this decision within a maximum of three months. The Governor will have to approve the bill re-passed by the Assembly within a month. If the Governor wants to send a bill to the President, then this work should also be done within a month, and that too on the advice of the cabinet.

This decision is considered an important step towards limiting the constitutional role of the Governor and ensuring the democratic process.