AA Edit | TN Government Defies SC Ruling Again
Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi has done it again. The man who was sworn in to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law” and to devote himself “to the service and well-being of the people of Tamil Nadu” has thrown it all to the wind by sending a bill passed by the state Assembly
Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi has done it again. The man who was sworn in to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law” and to devote himself “to the service and well-being of the people of Tamil Nadu” has thrown it all to the wind by sending a bill passed by the state Assembly unanimously to set up a university to the consideration of the President after sitting on it for more than three months, in defiance of the Constitution, and the law as laid down by the Supreme Court of India.
There is no grey area in the Constitution with respect to the powers of a governor when dealing with bills passed by a state Assembly. He can either give his assent to it, or return it to the Assembly with his points of disagreement in writing for it to consider, or else send it to the President of India if the bill falls in certain well-defined areas.
The Supreme Court had, in a landmark judgment last year, ruled that a governor cannot sit on the bills passed by a state Assembly for a period of his choosing and a decision has to come from him within a maximum period of three months. This limit is applicable even to the President when considering giving their assent to a bill sent by a governor.
It may be noted that the Supreme Court had specifically mentioned that a governor cannot send all bills to the President for her consideration and that there cannot be no “extraneous or irrelevant considerations” while doing so. Setting up a university falls within the legislative powers of the Assembly which need no concurrence from the President or the Union government.
The present occupant of the Chennai Raj Bhavan has proved repeatedly that he has no plans to respect the Constitution, the law and the orders of the Supreme Court. It is time that the Union government replaced him with a person who is inclined to do justice to the oath he takes when assuming the responsibilities of his job.