{"id":36933,"date":"2025-02-07T19:06:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T13:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=36933"},"modified":"2025-11-22T15:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T09:51:05","slug":"role-of-governor-over-assenting-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-02-2025\/role-of-governor-over-assenting-bills","title":{"rendered":"Role of Governor Over Assenting Bills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Polity and Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recently, the Supreme Court questioned the Tamil Nadu Governor over his decision to keep several Bills pending for over three years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Governor, <\/strong><strong><em>as the constitutional head of a state<\/em><\/strong>, plays a crucial role in the legislative process, particularly in <strong>assenting to bills passed by the state legislature.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The discretion exercised by Governors in withholding or delaying assent has been a subject of legal scrutiny and political contention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Constitutional Provisions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Article 200 of the Indian Constitution:<\/strong> It outlines the Governor\u2019s role in the assent process.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When a bill is presented to the Governor after being passed by the State Legislature, they have four options:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Grant Assent<\/strong> \u2013 The Governor may approve the bill, making it a law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Withhold Assent <\/strong>\u2013 The Governor may reject the bill, effectively stopping it from becoming law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Return the Bill for Reconsideration<\/strong> \u2013 The Governor can send the bill back to the legislature with suggestions. However, if the legislature passes the bill again without modifications, the Governor is bound to give assent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reserve the Bill for Presidential Assent<\/strong> \u2013 If the bill is contrary to the Constitution, affects the powers of the High Court, or contradicts central laws, the Governor may reserve it for the President\u2019s decision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Article 201: President\u2019s Role in Reserved Bills<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If a bill is reserved for the president\u2019s consideration under Article 200, the President has two options:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Give Assent:<\/strong> The bill becomes law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Withhold Assent or Direct Reconsideration: <\/strong>The President may send the bill back to the State Legislature for reconsideration. If the Legislature re-passes the bill, the President is not bound to give assent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Controversies and Recent Developments<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Delays in Assent:<\/strong> While the <strong>Constitution does not specify a timeframe<\/strong> for the Governor to act on a bill, it mandates that actions should be taken <strong>\u2018as soon as possible\u2019.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Indefinite delays can lead to a constitutional impasse, undermining the democratic process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Instances of prolonged delays and the use of the \u2018<strong>pocket veto<\/strong>\u2019 <em>(withholding assent without returning the bill)<\/em> have raised concerns about the Governor&#8217;s impartiality and adherence to constitutional norms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Political Disputes: <\/strong>Some state governments have accused Governors of acting under the influence of the central government, undermining the <strong>principles of federalism.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Punjab, conflicts have arisen over the Governor\u2019s refusal to sign bills crucial for governance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Supreme Court Observations\/Interpretations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Shamsher Singh v. State of Punjab (1974):<\/strong> Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the <strong>Council of Ministers<\/strong> except in certain specified cases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nabam Rebia v. Deputy Speaker (2016)<\/strong>: Governor cannot act in a partisan manner or override the elected government\u2019s decisions without valid reasons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rameshwar Prasad Case (2006)<\/strong>: Governor\u2019s discretion should not be arbitrary and must align with constitutional principles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Discretionary Powers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Governor&#8217;s discretion in withholding assent or returning a bill is <strong>not absolute.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>Sarkaria Commission (1987) <\/strong>further emphasized that the reservation of bills for the President&#8217;s consideration should be an exception and not the norm.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It recommended that the President should decide on such bills within six months and communicate reasons if assent is withheld.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reforms and the Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Time-bound decision-making:<\/strong> The Supreme Court has hinted that Governors should not indefinitely delay assent.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Governor should communicate promptly with the state legislature, providing reasons for withholding assent or referring bills to the President.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clarification on discretionary powers:<\/strong> A clearer constitutional or judicial framework is needed to define the limits of the Governor\u2019s role.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Establishing clear guidelines for the Governor&#8217;s actions in assenting bills can help ensure transparency and accountability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Greater accountability:<\/strong> The Governor\u2019s actions should be subject to parliamentary or judicial review if they appear to be politically motivated.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Strengthening judicial oversight can help prevent misuse of the Governor&#8217;s powers and ensure adherence to constitutional principles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/tamil-nadu\/what-was-so-gross-about-the-tn-bills-that-you-kept-them-pending-for-over-three-years-supreme-court-asks-tn-governor\/article69189006.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, the Supreme Court questioned the Tamil Nadu Governor over his decision to keep several Bills pending for over three years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36933"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50956,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36933\/revisions\/50956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}