The Supreme Court has ruled that the President must decide on State Bills, reserved by Governors for Presidential assent, within three months. The Apex Court set aside Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi’s decision to withhold assent to 10 pending Bills and, in the process, ruled that the President should also not take more than three months in arriving at a decision on Bills referred by Governors.
The Supreme Court has said it is not undermining the office of the Governor in fixing a timeline for their actions under Article 200, but they must act with due deference to the settled conventions of parliamentary democracy. Article 200 empowers the Governor to give assent to the Bills presented to him, withhold the assent, or reserve it for the consideration of the President.
