Governors Should Give Assent Or Return Bills As Early As Possible: SC

The Supreme Court recently stated that all states governors should give assent or return bills “as soon as possible.”

The observation was made by a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha while hearing a petition filed by the State of Telangana seeking directions to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to give her assent to ten key bills passed by the state legislature.

Citing proviso 1 of Article 200 of the Constitution, the bench stated that the phrase ‘as soon as possible’ has significant constitutional intent and must be remembered by constitutional authorities.

“Assent to Bills” is defined in Article 200 as “when a Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of a State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, by both Houses of the Legislature of the State, it shall be presented to the Governor, and the Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill, that he withholds assent therefrom, or that he reserves the Bill for consideration by the President.”

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench that no bills were awaiting assent from the Governor and that some bills had been returned for further comment.

Appearing for the Telangana government, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave stated that elected state governments were being left at the mercy of the Governors due to such delays in giving their assent to bills passed by the State legislature, adding, “Bills are assented within a day in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and other states. However, this is occurring in opposition-ruled states.”

The state government further informed the bench that ten Bills were pending with the Governor. While seven Bills have been pending since September 2022, three Bills were sent to the Governor in February for her approval.