New Delhi, April 09: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the Tamil Nadu Governor’s decision to reserve ten bills for the President’s assent was illegal and liable to be set aside, LiveLaw reported.
The top court said that any subsequent actions taken by the President concerning the ten bills in question hold no legal validity. It added that the bills should be considered as having received the Governor’s assent on the date they were re-submitted after being passed again by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
A Bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan concluded that the Governor acted in bad faith. The judgment noted that after keeping the bills pending for an extended period, the Governor referred them to the President shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Punjab Governor case, which stated that Governors cannot indefinitely delay action on bills to block their passage.
Justice Pardiwala said the Constitution does not allow for an “absolute veto” or a “pocket veto.” Referring to Article 200 of the Constitution, the court explained that a Governor must either assent to a bill, withhold assent, or reserve it for the President—but this reservation must happen at the initial stage.
“As a general rule, it is not open for the Governor to reserve a Bill for the President after the bills have been re-presented by the Government after being passed again by the Assembly. The only exception is when the bill presented in the second round is different from the first version,” Justice Pardiwala said.
