Guv has to assent Bills passed by TN Assembly unless he finds something lawfully wrong: Elangovan

CHENNAI: DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan on Tuesday slammed Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi for withholding 10 Bills "re-passed" by the State Legislative Assembly and said that the Governor has to accept Bills passed by the State Assembly unless and until he finds something lawfully wrong in the Bills.

"The State Legislative Assembly is elected by the people and that is democracy. The Governor is appointed as the head of the State. Unless he has any doubt about a Bill and if he needs any clarification on a Bill passed by the State Assembly, he can return the Bill. But, withholding Bills and saying that withholding is not rejecting is the funniest thing in a democracy. Democracy is for the people," Elangovan said.

He added, "When the State Legislative Assembly passes a Bill, the Governor has to accept it unless he finds anything which is lawfully wrong, and he can seek clarification from the State Cabinet. Without doing anything, he was withholding the Bills. The Governor's role is to uphold democracy, not to kill it."

Elangovan said that the Governor's claim of passing other Bills doesn't count as the question is about what happened to the remaining Bills passed by the State Legislative Assembly awaiting his assent.

The DMK spokesperson mentioned an instance where a Bill was returned by the Governor without any legal point being shown.

Elangovan further stressed that it's not for the Governor to decide, but for the elected government, as the people will question the government, not the Governor.

Elangovan also hailed Supreme Court for questioning the Governor and said that the Governor should respond to the top court.

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court questioned the delay by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi in taking decisions on Bills submitted for assent as early as in January 2020, asking what he had been doing for three years.

"Why should the Governor wait for the parties to approach the Supreme Court?" the court asked.

The bench was informed that now 15 Bills are pending before the Governor, including ten Bills which have been "re-passed" by the State Legislative Assembly.

The bench noted that the Governor's office has received altogether 181 bills, out of which assent has been granted for 152 bills, and five bills were withdrawn by the government itself and nine bills have been reserved for the assent of the President.

The bench scheduled the next hearing on December 1.

Earlier in October, the Tamil Nadu government moved the apex court, urging it to issue directions to Governor R N Ravi to clear the bills and various files forwarded by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and the Government that are pending with his office within a specified timeframe.

In its writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the Tamil Nadu government claimed that the Governor has positioned himself as a “political rival” to the legitimately elected State government.

The petition had been filed through an advocate on record, Sabarish Subramanian.