Supreme Court criticizes Tamil Nadu governor over three-year delay in deciding on bills

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court criticized Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi for delaying decisions on bills passed by the Assembly. The court questioned why the bills hadn't been signed since 2020 and what actions the Governor had taken during these three years. The criticism came during consideration of a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government against the Governor.

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud's bench highlighted that some bills were only returned by the Governor after the court issued a notice. The court postponed the case to December 1 for further hearings on the government's petition against the Governor.

Attorney General R Venkita Ramani informed the Supreme Court that decisions were made on some pending bills and they were returned. Following this, the Chief Justice criticized the Governor noting that bills held for three years were only sent back after the court's intervention.

Representing the Centre, the Attorney General argued that a Governor isn't technically obligated to sign all Assembly-passed bills stating that signing only occurs after considering all aspects.