New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled on Thursday that Governors cannot indefinitely withhold assent to Bills passed by state legislatures, stressing that the Constitution provides only three clear options: grant assent, return the Bill with comments, or refer it to the President.
Delivering its opinion on a Presidential reference under Article 143, a Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai said the Governor’s discretion under Article 200 is limited to these choices and does not extend to holding Bills “in perpetuity”. The Bench also comprised Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, P.S. Narasimha and Atul S. Chandurkar.
“We hold that the Governor does not have the power to simpliciter withhold,” the court observed, adding that the constitutional framework places the elected government “in the driver’s seat” and that “there cannot be two executive power centres”.
The Bench further clarified that the concept of courts declaring “deemed assent” to Bills if timelines are breached is impermissible. It held that such a move would amount to the judiciary taking over executive functions reserved for the Governor or President, violating the doctrine of separation of powers. At the same time, the court noted that if there is prolonged or unexplained delay by a Governor which frustrates the legislative process, judicial review can be exercised to direct a time-bound decision, without commenting on the merits of the Bill.
Rejecting the Centre’s argument that Article 200 confers unrestricted discretion, the court said the Council of Ministers is unlikely to advise the Governor to return or reserve a Bill, but discretion must still be exercised within constitutional limits. It noted that the President cannot act unless the Governor reserves a Bill for his assent.
The opinion follows a reference seeking clarity on timelines for gubernatorial and presidential assent, after a two-judge Bench earlier declared Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi’s prolonged inaction on 10 Bills “illegal and arbitrary”. That ruling set a three-month deadline for approval of Bills passed by the legislature for a second time.
In July, the Constitution Bench had issued notices to all states in the matter titled In “Re: Assent, Withholding or Reservation of Bills by the Governor and the President of India”. Earlier, in April 2025, a Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan invoked Article 142 to impose a three-month deadline for Presidential decisions on reserved Bills, effectively bringing such actions under judicial review.
(Inputs from IANS)