Just three-month deadline for President to decide on bills sent by Governor; unprecedented Supreme Court decision

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, in an unprecedented move, made it clear that the President will have only three months to decide on bills passed by state assemblies. The time limit was also set for the President in the judgment against the Tamil Nadu Governor.

The order also states that if the decision on the bill is delayed, the state government must be informed in writing of the appropriate reasons for it. If the President's decision is delayed, it can be questioned in court. The judgment also clarified that the states have the power to do so.

This is the first time that the Supreme Court has set a deadline for the President to decide on bills passed by the legislatures. Article 201 of the Constitution describes the procedures to be followed by the President in the bills sent by the Governors but does not specify a time limit. The order was made on a petition filed by the state government questioning the action of Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi, who arbitrarily withheld 10 bills for a long time and later sent them to the President.

The court quashed the Governor's action and declared all ten bills passed. The full text of the verdict, delivered on the 8th by a bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, was uploaded on the Supreme Court website at midnight yesterday. It has also been directed to send a copy of the verdict to the Principal Secretaries of all Governors and High Courts.