Governors must assent or send back bills ‘as soon as possible’: Supreme Court

New Delhi, April 25, 2023

At a time when states governed by opposition parties are protesting governors’ inaction on bills passed by the assembly, the Supreme Court on Monday reminded the state constitutional heads to bear in mind that Article 200 of the Constitution mandates them to either give assent or return bills “as soon as possible”.

Although the apex court did not, as demanded by Telangana, set a timeline for governors to either clear or return the bills, the bench’s “as soon as possible” reminder was recorded as an order by a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha.

The bench was dealing with a petition filed by the Telangana government which had complained about governor Tamilisai Soundarajan sitting for long on 10 bills passed by the assembly. However, solicitor general Tushar Mehta informed the court that no bills were pending with the governor.

[The Times of India]