Powers of the governor under Article 200

GS Paper 2

 Syllabus: Issues and Challenges Pertaining to the Federal Structure

Source: Scroll

 Context: The SC said that governors should clear bills passed by the legislative assemblies as soon as possible, as mandated under Article 200 of the Indian Constitution.

Article 200:

• It gives governors the power to either grant assent to a bill, withhold assent or reserve the bill for the president’s consideration in certain cases.
• The governor may return the bill (if it is not a Money Bill) requesting the House/Houses to reconsider the bill.
• If such a bill is passed again by the House/Houses with/without amendment and presented to the governor for assent, the governor shall not withhold assent.

The plea in the SC: A plea was filed by the Telangana government seeking directions to the governor to clear ten bills passed by the state Assembly.

What are the SC’s observations?

• Article 200 states that the governor must “as soon as possible” after the presentation of the bill for assent return the bill for reconsideration to the House/Houses of the state legislature.
• The expression “as soon as possible” has a significant constitutional intent and must be borne into mind.

The issue:

• The issue that is agitating State governments (Kerala, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal) is the non-decision/indecision on the part of the governor on a bill passed by the Assembly.
• In a new constitutional development, the TN Assembly passed a resolution urging the President of India to fix a timeline for assent to be given to bills passed by the Assembly.

Why is this resolution a new constitutional development?

• Article 355 of the Constitution says that it shall be the duty of the Union to ensure that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the Constitution.
  • This provision justifies the “invasion of the provincial field” by the Union government and the proclamation of the President’s rule (under Article 356) in a State.
• If the governor violates Article 200 and sits on the bills indefinitely (an option not given by the Constitution), s/he is creating a situation where governance of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution.
• In such a situation, the government of the State has a constitutional duty to invoke Article 355 and request the President to give suitable instructions to the Governor.

The practice followed in the United Kingdom:

• The veto could only be exercised on ministerial advice.
• Refusal of royal assent on the ground that the monarch strongly disapproves of a bill/ it was intensely controversial would be unconstitutional.

Case of India:

• Under Article 154 of the Constitution, the governor can exercise his/her executive powers only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
• Whether the Governor (under Article 200) can withhold his/her assent to a bill in the exercise of his/her discretionary powers?
• Under the constitutional scheme, the governor is only a constitutional head and has no real powers.
• According to constitutional experts, the governor can withhold assent to a bill only on ministerial advice.
• Hence, there is a confusion on the issue in India.

Way ahead:

• A bill is a policy imperative of the elected government which is responsible to the people.
• Withholding assent means the death of the bill. Therefore, the government can challenge the inaction of the governor in a court of law.
• The SC must fix a reasonable time frame for governors to take a decision on a bill passed by the Assembly in the larger interest of federalism in the country.

Insta Links:

Governor-Chief Minister confrontation

Mains Links:

From the resolution of contentious issues regarding the distribution of legislative powers by the courts, the ‘Principle of Federal Supremacy’ and ‘Harmonious Construction’ have emerged. Explain. (UPSC 2019)

Prelims Links: UPSC 2018