GUWAHATI: In a rap on Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi’s knuckles, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, April 8 ruled that his decision to withhold assent to 10 key bills was "illegal" and "arbitrary". The court ruled that the governor cannot reserve bills for the President after withholding assent. The ruling comes as a massive win for the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government.
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While hearing the state government’s petition challenging the governor’s actions, the court also set a clear constitutional timeline within which governors are required to act on bills passed by state legislatures, reports said.
"The action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for the President is illegal and arbitrary. Thus, the action is set aside. All actions taken by the governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. These bills shall be deemed to be cleared from the date it was re-presented to the governor," the bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan said. The court said Governor Ravi did not act in "good faith".
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief MK Stalin described the verdict as "historic". "It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian states. DMK will continue to struggle for and win state autonomy and federal polity," he said.
The governor, the court said, should have cleared the bills when they were re-presented to him after being passed by the Assembly again.
The Supreme Court also declared that the governor does not have the authority to sit indefinitely on bills and must act within the framework laid out in Article 200 of the Constitution. The top court said that the governor must take a decision within three months, either to assent to a bill, return it to the House, or refer it to the President.
The court clarified that it is "in no way undermining the governor's powers". "All actions of the governor must align with the principle of parliamentary democracy."
A former IPS officer who has also worked in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Ravi took over as Tamil Nadu Governor in 2021. Ever since, he has had frosty ties with the state government. The DMK government has accused him of acting like a BJP spokesperson and blocking bills and appointments. The governor has said the Constitution empowers him to withhold his assent to legislation.
The state government and Raj Bhavan have also clashed during the Governor's customary address to the Assembly. Last year, the Governor walked out in protest of the National Anthem not being sung at the beginning of the address. As per tradition, the state anthem Tamil Thai Valthu is sung when the House meets and the National Anthem at the end. But Governor Ravi took exception and said the national anthem should be sung at both times. In 2023, Governor Ravi refused to deliver the customary address to the Assembly and said the draft had "numerous passages with misleading claims far from truth". The year before that, he refused to read parts of the speech that had the names of BR Ambedkar, Periyar, CN Annadurai, the phrase 'Dravidian Model' and some references to law and order in Tamil Nadu.
