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Failure of democratic system if Governor doesn’t grant assent to Bills 2nd time: TN to SC

The top court will resume hearing on Thursday when Attorney General R Venkataramani would spell out Governor’s stand
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Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi. File
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Governor RN Ravi withholding its assent to Bills passed by the legislative Assembly for the second time would lead to failure of democratic system in the country, Tamil Nadu Government has told the Supreme Court.

On behalf of the Tamil Nadu Government, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi told a Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan that under the Constitution, the Governor could ask for reconsideration of a Bill passed by the state Assembly.

“However, if the same Bill is re-enacted and presented before the Governor for the second time, the Governor has no other option but to grant assent. This is the procedure laid down in our constitutional framework. If he still does not give his assent or failure to give his assent, then it is the failure of our democratic system,” Rohatgi contended before the Bench on Tuesday.

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Constitutional provisions were very clear to the effect that the Governor was duty-bound to give his assent in the second round, Rohatgi submitted.

While hearing the Tamil Nadu Government’s petitions over its confrontation with Governor RN Ravi on assent to Bills passed by the Assembly, the Bench said that due to the dispute between the state government and the Governor people were suffering.

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The top court would decide if the Governor could refer the Bills passed by the legislature and re-adopted by it, for presidential assent.

The Bench will resume the hearing on Thursday when Attorney General R Venkataramani would spell out the Governor’s stand.

AM Singhvi, another senior counsel representing the Tamil Nadu Government, argued that the option to refer the Bills to the President had to be exercised at the first instance and not as an afterthought.

He submitted after the re-enactment of the Bill and on being presented to the Governor, he had no other option but to grant assent and couldn’t reserve the bill in the second round for the President’s consideration.

The Tamil Nadu Government had moved the top court in 2023 alleging delay by Ravi in granting assent to Bills.

Tensions between Ravi and the MK Stalin government escalated when the state assembly re-adopted 10 bills returned by him.

On December 13, 2023, observing the business of governance must go on, the top court had said it did not want to restrain the President of India from acting on the Bills re-adopted by the Tamil Nadu assembly and forwarded to her by Governor Ravi for consideration.

It noted the submissions of the counsel for the state government and the attorney general that Chief Minister M K Stalin and Governor Ravi had agreed to meet, as asked by the apex court, and resolve the impasse over the Bills not getting gubernatorial assent after its passage by the state legislature.

The Governor couldn’t refer bills passed by the legislature and re-adopted by it for presidential assent, and asked the Tamil Nadu Governor to hold a meeting with the chief minister in an effort to end the impasse over 10 such pending Bills, it had said.

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