<p class="bodytext">The Supreme Court’s judgement declaring Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi’s action of reserving 10 Bills for the President’s assent as illegal and erroneous is a landmark decision that upholds the value of federalism and the supremacy of the Constitution. It is also an indictment of the Governor who violated the norms of gubernatorial conduct with impunity and spoke and acted as if he was above the law and the state government. The indictment also applies to the union home ministry, which has supported Ravi and other Governors who have acted in an unconstitutional and obstructionist manner. By setting aside all the actions taken by Governor Ravi and using its extraordinary power under Article 142 to hold the 10 Bills to be clear from the date they were represented to the Governor, the bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan has undone a serious infringement of the Constitution. Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary solutions — this is the first instance of bills becoming laws without the Governor’s assent.</p>.From Raj Bhavan to courtroom: Ravi's rocky tenure in Tamil Nadu.<p class="bodytext">The court has also done well to draw red lines and set a timeline for the clearance of bills. It set the timeline as one month in case of withholding of assent and reserving it for President’s assent with aid and advice of council of ministers, and three months if there was withholding of assent without aid and advice of the council. The bills have to be returned within a month if they were presented after reconsideration by the State Assembly. The court also warned of judicial scrutiny if there was failure to adhere to the timeline. It is a pity that the highest court had to set such a timeline for routine action for a high constitutional authority and issue a warning. Many Governors, including Ravi, have been serial offenders against the Constitution and the court had to take the drastic decision after several rulings, advice and observations intended to guide their conduct went unheeded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The court has made it abundantly clear that it is the elected government that is supreme and not the unelected appointee of the Central government. It said there is no pocket veto or absolute veto available to the Governor. The Governor must “act with due deference to the settled conventions of parliamentary democracy, respecting the will of the people being expressed through the legislature as well as the elected government responsible to the people,” the court said. No Governor can usurp the powers of the government and act as the political agent of the Centre. All Governors would do well to read the duties and responsibilities delineated by the court. The judgement reinforces the federal principle when it is under serious pressure. Governor Ravi’s position has become untenable and he should consider whether it is appropriate for him to continue in office after such a serious judicial indictment.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The Supreme Court’s judgement declaring Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi’s action of reserving 10 Bills for the President’s assent as illegal and erroneous is a landmark decision that upholds the value of federalism and the supremacy of the Constitution. It is also an indictment of the Governor who violated the norms of gubernatorial conduct with impunity and spoke and acted as if he was above the law and the state government. The indictment also applies to the union home ministry, which has supported Ravi and other Governors who have acted in an unconstitutional and obstructionist manner. By setting aside all the actions taken by Governor Ravi and using its extraordinary power under Article 142 to hold the 10 Bills to be clear from the date they were represented to the Governor, the bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan has undone a serious infringement of the Constitution. Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary solutions — this is the first instance of bills becoming laws without the Governor’s assent.</p>.From Raj Bhavan to courtroom: Ravi's rocky tenure in Tamil Nadu.<p class="bodytext">The court has also done well to draw red lines and set a timeline for the clearance of bills. It set the timeline as one month in case of withholding of assent and reserving it for President’s assent with aid and advice of council of ministers, and three months if there was withholding of assent without aid and advice of the council. The bills have to be returned within a month if they were presented after reconsideration by the State Assembly. The court also warned of judicial scrutiny if there was failure to adhere to the timeline. It is a pity that the highest court had to set such a timeline for routine action for a high constitutional authority and issue a warning. Many Governors, including Ravi, have been serial offenders against the Constitution and the court had to take the drastic decision after several rulings, advice and observations intended to guide their conduct went unheeded.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The court has made it abundantly clear that it is the elected government that is supreme and not the unelected appointee of the Central government. It said there is no pocket veto or absolute veto available to the Governor. The Governor must “act with due deference to the settled conventions of parliamentary democracy, respecting the will of the people being expressed through the legislature as well as the elected government responsible to the people,” the court said. No Governor can usurp the powers of the government and act as the political agent of the Centre. All Governors would do well to read the duties and responsibilities delineated by the court. The judgement reinforces the federal principle when it is under serious pressure. Governor Ravi’s position has become untenable and he should consider whether it is appropriate for him to continue in office after such a serious judicial indictment.</p>
