'Illegal And Erroneous': Supreme Court Comes Down Heavily On Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi For Withholding Assent To 10 Bills

The Supreme Court came down heavily on the Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi for withholding approval for 10 bills passed by the State Legislative Assembly pending the president's consideration.

Delivering a significant ruling on the authority of governors on Tuesday (8 April), a Supreme Court bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan described the Governor's decision as "illegal and erroneous in law and liable to be set aside", Indian Express reported.

Consequently, the Supreme Court has ruled that any further actions taken on these bills by the President will not hold. The verdict made it clear that the 10 bills are considered to be approved from the date they were re-submitted to the Governor.

Asserting that the Governor must assent to a bill when it is sent to him after reconsideration by the state Assembly, the bench said, "The Governor must assent to Bills produced before it in the second round, only exception is that the bill is different from the first one in the second round."

“Governor obligated to adopt one course of action: give assent to bills, withhold assent and reserve for consideration of President,” the court said, adding that withholding assent and adopting the concept of absolute veto or pocket veto is not an option for the Governor.

Mentioning Article 200 that describes the power of a Governor, the bench asserted, "The Governor does not possess any discretion and has to mandatorily act on aid and advice of council of ministers."

Chief Minister M K Stalin has accused Governor Ravi of hindering the state government's initiatives by not acting on the 10 Bills that were re-adopted in the Assembly. Stalin further alleged that the Centre, through Governors, is "targeting" states not governed by the BJP.