Supreme Court Fixes Time For President To Give Assent To Bills

In what has been considered an exemplary verdict,  the Supreme Court of India, for the first time, has fixed a timeline for the President to decide on the bills referred by the governor of any state.

This comes days after the SC said that governors cannot sit over bills passed by the state legislature and fixed a timeline of one to three months for their actions.

The verdict is seen as holding importance for the opposition-ruled states such as Kerala, Punjab, Telangana and West Bengal, who have approached the apex court against delay in giving assent by governors to bills passed by the respective state assemblies.

 In a landmark judgment in the 'State of Tamil Nadu vs Governor of Tamil Nadu' case, the Supreme Court has set timelines for the President to act as per Article 201 of the Constitution on the Bills which the Governor has reserved for the President's assent.

The Court held that the President must come to a decision within 3 months on the Bills. A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Mahadevan observed that "the President is required to take a decision on the bills reserved for his consideration by the Governor within a period of three months from the date on which such reference is received."

The court observed that the "absence of a time-limit" in Article 201 has been a reason for difference between the Centre and the state. "We hope & trust that the governor and state govt would work in tandem and harmoniously keeping the interests and well-being of the people and their paramount considerations," the bench said.
The Supreme Court added that if the President does not act in the given period, the states are entitled to file writ petitions.

"It must be made clear that the courts would not be powerless to intervene in cases where the exercise of function by a constitutional authority is not being done within a reasonable time," the SC stated.