The State of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to declare Governor R.N. Ravi’s act to reserve 10 crucial Bills, re-enacted by the State Assembly, for the consideration of the President as unconstitutional, arbitrary and illegal.
Tamil Nadu, represented by senior advocate P. Wilson and advocate Sabarish Subramanian, filed an application seeking the apex court permission to amend its pending writ petition against the Governor to add this request.
The State said the action of the Governor to refer the Bills to the President should be quashed as ultra vires the fundamental rights of the people of Tamil Nadu.
In an earlier hearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, the State had accused the Governor of exhibiting “constitutional obstinacy” by referring the 10 “re-passed” Bills to the President on November 28.
The court had questioned how the Governor, having withheld his assent to the Bills in the first instance on November 13, could now refer the Bills, re-passed by the Tamil Nadu legislature, to the President.
The Supreme Court had issued notice to the Governor on November 10 on a writ petition filed by the State government, accusing Mr. Ravi of delaying consent to the Bills. On November 13, the Governor communicated to the Assembly that he had withheld consent from them. The Assembly, in a special session held on November 18, re-enacted the Bills without amendments and sent them again to the Governor for his assent. The Governor referred the Bills to the President on November 28 and informed the Assembly on November 30.
Article 200 of the Constitution gives the Governor three choices - grant assent to the Bills or withhold assent or reserve them for the consideration of the President. In this case, the Governor withheld assent on November 13.
“The Governor had withheld assent once. Now, there was no question of referring to the President the same Bills the second time they were sent to him for his assent,” Chief Justice Chandrachud had addressed Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the Governor.
If the State Assembly re-passes the Bills, with or without amendments, the Governor has no choice left but to grant his assent to the Bills in the re-enacted form, the Chief Justice said.
The CJI said the law was settled in the court’s November 10, 2023 judgment in a case concerning the delay caused by the Punjab Governor in assenting to certain Bills. eom
