Big setback for Tamil Nadu Governor: Must give assent to bills, no pocket veto, rules Supreme Court

The Supreme Court strongly criticized Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Tuesday, stating that his decision to reserve 10 bills for the President's consideration violated constitutional provisions.

A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan emphasized that under Article 200 of the Constitution, the governor has no discretion and must act strictly based on the advice of the council of ministers. This article pertains to the assent of bills.

The court clarified that the governor cannot withhold assent or apply the concepts of an absolute veto or a pocket veto. It ruled that the governor is required to choose one of three actions: grant assent to bills, withhold assent, or reserve them for the President's consideration.

"Under Article 200, the governor does not possess any discretion and has to mandatorily act on aid and advice of council of ministers," said the Supreme Court.

SC added, “Not open for governor to reserve Bill for consideration of president after it is presented to him for second time.”

Furthermore, the bench stated that the governor cannot reserve a bill for the President after it has been presented to him a second time. The governor must assent to bills in the second round unless the bill has been altered compared to its original version.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict on the issue of Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi's pending assent to bills adopted by the state Assembly, hailing it as ‘historic’ and a victory for all state governments in the country.

The SC ruled the bills are now considered having been given the Governor's assent, Stalin told the Assembly, shortly after the apex court's order.

The DMK and the Governor have been loggerheards over a number of issues.

(With inputs from PTI)