SC says courts can't impose timelines on Prez, state guvs

The ruling comes even as several states are struggling with delayed assent to important laws

- Krishna Yadav

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday held that courts cannot impose timelines on the President of India or state governors to approve bills passed by state legislatures, while urging them to respond promptly.

The five-judge bench led by Chief Justice B. R. Gavai said its earlier judgement, which had introduced fixed timelines and suggested that bills could be treated as automatically approved if constitutional authorities delayed action, was incorrect. Such directions, the bench said, take away powers that the Constitution gives only to the President and governors.

Other judges on the Bench were Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, P. S. Narasimha and Atul S. Chandurkar.

The ruling is likely to influence how impasses between state governments and governors over bill approvals are resolved and opens up the possibility of delays over bills in states relating to economic, business, financial, and infrastructure domains, among others.