New Delhi [India], April 8 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi withholding 10 bills and reserving them for the President’s assent after they were re-enacted by the State Legislature is “illegal and erroneous in law” and liable to be set aside.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said the Governor must act in aid and advice of the State Legislature.
The top court order came on plea of Tamil Nadu government against the state Governor for withholding assent on bills passed by the Assembly.
It said the Governor does not have the veto power to sit over bills sent to him by the State legislature.
The Governor must assent to a bill when it is presented to him after reconsideration by the State assembly, he can only refuse assent when the bill is different, the apex court said.
The top court further said that the 10 bills shall be deemed to have been cleared from the date they were presented again to the Governor after reconsideration by the legislature.
“Action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for the President is illegal and arbitrary, and thus the action is set aside. All actions taken by the Governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. The 10 bills shall be deemed to be clear from the date it was re-presented to the Governor,” the judgment stated.
It also said that the Governor must be a friend, philosopher and guide and not driven by political considerations but the Constitutional oath.
He must be a catalyst and not an inhibitor, said the bench, adding that the Governor must be conscious not to create any roadblock.
“The Governor must be conscious not to create roadblocks or chokehold the state legislature to thwart and break the will of the people for political reasons. The members of the state legislature, having been elected by the people of the state as an outcome of the democratic expression, are better attuned to ensure the well-being of the people of the state,” said Justice Pardiwala while pronouncing the judgment.
On February 10, the top court reserved judgment on the petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu government against its Governor withholding assent for the bills, the oldest of them pending since January 2020.
Once the Bills were re-enacted in a special session by the government, the Governor sent some of the re-passed laws to the President for reconsideration. (ANI)
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