'What Was The Governor Doing For 3 Years?', Supreme Court Asks While Hearing Tamil Nadu Plea On Pending Bills

Hearing a plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government asking the Supreme Court to instruct Governors to give assent to Bills in a specific time limit, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud today (20 November) asked why was the Governor keeping Bills pending for 3 years.

According to a report by LiveLaw, Chief Justice Chandrachud asked Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani, "Mr Attorney, the Governor says he has disposed of these bills on November 13. Our concern is that our order was passed on November 10. These bills have been pending since January 2020. It means that the Governor took the decision after the Court issued notice. What was the Governor doing for three years? Why should the Governor wait for the parties to approach the Supreme Court?"

When told that Governor RN Ravi had taken oath as Governor in November 2021, the bench also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it was not specifically pointing to any particular Governor but questioning the delay in general.

Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Abhishek Manu Singhvi representing Tamil Nadu informed the Court that Governor Ravi notified that he had withheld his assent after notice was issued in the matter and the state Assembly had then passed the Bills once again in a special session on 18 November.

The number of Bills pending with the Governor is 15, including the Bills passed in the special session, said Singhvi.

Rohatgi stated that the Governor gave a single-line statement saying, "I withhold assent", while the law required him to provide a note with reasons.

Regarding the number of Bills sent to the Governor and action taken, the bench recorded that of the 181 Bills received, assent was granted to 152, nine were sent to the President, five were withdrawn by the government, assent had been withheld for 10 and five were under consideration.

On the request of the AG to wait for the decision of the Governor regarding the Bills pending before him, the bench adjourned the hearing to 1 December.