{"id":31868,"date":"2025-04-09T06:28:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T00:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=31868"},"modified":"2025-04-16T16:26:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T10:56:29","slug":"governors-assent-to-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/governors-assent-to-bills\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor\u2019s Assent to Bills"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Governor\u2019s Assent to Bills Latest News<\/h2>\n<p>Supreme Court Fixes Timeline for Governor\u2019s Action on State Bills<\/p>\n<h2>Background<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Supreme Court of India<\/strong> in a <strong>landmark verdict<\/strong> reprimanded <strong>Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi<\/strong> for <strong>withholding assent<\/strong> or <strong>delaying action<\/strong> on <strong>10 state bills<\/strong>, which were <strong>re-presented<\/strong> by the state legislature.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Governor had reserved these bills for the President\u2019s consideration<\/strong>, which the Court held as <strong>unconstitutional<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Case Context<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In <strong>2023<\/strong>, the <strong>Tamil Nadu government approached SC<\/strong>, citing <strong>deliberate delay<\/strong> by the Governor.<\/li>\n<li><strong>12 bills<\/strong> (including one from 2020) were <strong>pending assent<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>On <strong>Nov 13, 2023<\/strong>, the Governor <strong>withhold assent<\/strong> to 10 bills.<\/li>\n<li>The Assembly <strong>re-enacted<\/strong> these bills on <strong>Nov 18, 2023<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The Governor again <strong>reserved some bills for the President<\/strong> on <strong>Nov 28, 2023<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key Constitutional Provisions Involved<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Article 200<\/strong>: Deals with the powers of the <strong>Governor<\/strong> regarding <strong>bills passed by the State Legislature<\/strong>. The Governor can:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Give assent<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Withhold assent<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Reserve the bill for the President&#8217;s consideration<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article 201 \u2013 <\/strong>President\u2019s veto power on bills reserved by the Governor.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article 142 \u2013<\/strong> Supreme Court\u2019s plenary power to ensure complete justice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Supreme Court&#8217;s Major Observations<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Governor\u2019s action of reserving 10 bills for the President was declared illegal<\/strong> and <strong>arbitrary<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bills re-presented<\/strong> to the Governor shall be <strong>deemed to have received assent<\/strong> from the date of re-presentation.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Governor does not have discretion<\/strong> under Article 200 and must act <strong>on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The Governor <strong>cannot exercise an \u201cabsolute veto\u201d or \u201cpocket veto\u201d<\/strong> by <strong>sitting indefinitely on bills<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Delays<\/strong> in granting assent <strong>cripple the legislative process<\/strong> and are against the <strong>spirit of federalism and democracy<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Timelines Fixed by the Supreme Court (First Time Ever)<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"table\">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><strong>Scenario<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><strong>Maximum Time Allowed<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Withhold Assent or Reserve for President (with aid &amp; advice of CoM)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><strong>1 Month<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Withhold Assent without CoM\u2019s advice<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Must return the bill <strong>within 3 Months<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Bill Re-passed by Assembly (2nd time)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>Governor must give assent <strong>within 1 Month<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<h3>Judicial Oversight Introduced<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If these timelines are <strong>not followed<\/strong>, the <strong>Governor\u2019s inaction<\/strong> becomes <strong>subject to Judicial Review<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Supreme Court invoked Article 142<\/strong> to declare the <strong>bills as deemed to have received assent<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Reaffirmation of Democratic Principles<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Governor cannot act as an obstructionist<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Elected legislators<\/strong>, being representatives of the people, are <strong>best placed to enact laws<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The Governor must act as a <strong>\u201cfriend, philosopher and guide\u201d<\/strong>, not as a <strong>political actor<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Governor must facilitate<\/strong> governance, not <strong>paralyze<\/strong> it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Clarification on Reserve Power (Article 200)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Once a <strong>bill is re-passed<\/strong> by the Assembly, the <strong>Governor cannot reserve it again<\/strong> unless the <strong>content has materially changed<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Any attempt to delay action <strong>violates the Governor\u2019s constitutional oath<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Governor\u2019s Assent to Bills FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1. <\/strong>What constitutional provisions govern the Governor\u2019s assent to state bills?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong> Under Article 200, the Governor can assent, withhold assent, or reserve a bill for the President\u2019s consideration. They may also return non-money bills for reconsideration by the state legislature.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2. <\/strong>Why is delayed assent by Governors controversial?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong> Prolonged delays (e.g., Tamil Nadu\u2019s 2023 bills pending for 6+ months) undermine legislative autonomy, sparking judicial scrutiny (Supreme Court\u2019s 2023 <i>Punjab vs. Governor<\/i> case).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3. <\/strong>Can courts intervene in assent-related disputes?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong> Yes. In <i>Nabam Rebia (2016)<\/i>, the SC ruled that Governors must act on cabinet advice, barring exceptional cases like constitutional violations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4. <\/strong>What happens if a bill is reserved for the President?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong> The President may assent, withhold assent (Article 201), or direct the Governor to return it to the assembly (e.g., Kerala\u2019s University Laws Amendment Bill, 2022).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/sc-pulls-up-tn-governor-for-sitting-on-bills-sets-timeline-in-a-first-101744101923182.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> HT<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court of India reprimanded Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi for delaying or withholding assent on 10 state bills re-presented by the legislature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}