No timelines for prez, guvs to clear bills: SC

The Supreme Court's five-judge Constitution bench on Thursday ruled that governors and the President cannot be bound by judicially imposed timelines in granting assent to state legislation, opining on a presidential reference that any such attempt would violate the separation of powers and overstep constitutional boundaries.

- Utkarsh Anand

The verdict nullifies the April 8 decision by a two-judge bench in the Tamil Nadu case where strict timelines for gubernatorial assent were laid down, besides introducing the concept of "deemed assent" in cases of inordinate delays. The bench said that the previous decision created a "state of confusion and doubt", which requires an "authoritative opinion" of the larger bench.

At the same time, the bench clarified that while the discharge of functions under articles 200 and 201 is "non-justiciable," courts may, where there is prolonged, deliberate inaction, issue a limited direction requiring a governor to exercise one of the three constitutionally prescribed options, without dictating which option to choose.

By nullifying the April 8 ruling and reaffirming the boundaries of judicial intervention, the Constitution bench may have reiterated the principle of separation of powers between judiciary and executive, but it has left the federal debate open, especially in a highly politicised environment with some states claiming that governors work like agents of the Union government.

Delivering its advisory opinion under Article 143, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai and justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, PS Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar, held that the Constitution envisages a carefully balanced structure for the processing of state legislation, one that does not permit courts to impose procedural timelines on constitutional authorities.