'As soon as possible' term will serve no purpose if Governors withhold assent to bills till eternity: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said the term 'as soon as possible' used in Article 200 of the Constitution in deciding the fate of Bills will serve no practical purpose if Governors are allowed to withhold consent for "eternity".

Hearing the Presidential reference on timelines for the President and the Governor to clear the Bills passed by state legislatures, a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai also said the framers of the Constitution deliberately replaced an earlier six-week limit with the phrase 'as soon as possible' in Article 200 and asked the Centre whether this phrase can be ignored in deciding the fate of Bills.

"The question is when the Governor sits over a Bill passed by the legislature and keeps sitting over it. The words used were 'as soon as possible' .. earlier it was six weeks and later made as soon as possible and one of the members in the drafting committee stated 'as soon as possible' would mean immediately.. if this was the view of the Constitution makers then can we ignore that," CJI Gavai asked.

Article 200 provided for the powers of the Governor regarding bills passed by the State Legislature, allowing them to either assent to the bill, withhold assent, return the bill for reconsideration or reserve the bill for the consideration of the President.

A proviso of Article 200 said the Governor may, as soon as possible after the presentation to him of the Bill for assent, return the Bill, if it is not a Money Bill, to the house for reconsideration and shall not withhold the consent after the assembly reconsiders and sends it back to him.

The hearing in the matter would continue next week.