Bills Re-Passed By Assembly After Being Returned Cannot Be Sent To President By Governor: CJI Chandrachud While Hearing Tamil Nadu Plea

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud today (1 December) said that Bills returned by the Governor to the Assembly could not be referred to the President if they were passed once again.

CJI Chandrachud made the remarks after being informed that 10 Bills re-passed by the Assembly during a special session on 18 November were referred to the President by Governor RN Ravi on 28 November.

According to a report by The Hindu, responding to this, Attorney General R Venkataramani said that Governor Ravi had only stated that he had withheld his assent and not sent the Bills back to the Assembly.

Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and P Wilson, appearing for Tamil Nadu then argued that this meant that the Governor was arguing that he had killed the Bills. They also stated that he had never in the Court denied returning the Bills.

CJI Chandrachud then suggested to Attorney General Venkataramani that the Governor and Chief Minister meet each other to sort the matter.

The case would be heard again on 11 December.

During the previous hearing, the Court had questioned the Governor as to why certain Bills were pending for 3 years. It had also recorded that of the 181 Bills received, assent was granted to 152, nine were sent to the President, five were withdrawn by the government, assent had been withheld for 10 and five were under consideration.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the state government, had then stated that the Governor gave a single-line statement saying, "I withhold assent", while the law required him to provide a note with reasons.