• May 1, 2023

Ability of the Governor to Sign Bills

GS 2 Indian Constitution Significant Provisions Parliament & State Legislatures

In Context

• Recently, the Supreme Court reminded Governors that the Constitution requires a decision to return a Bill to the State Assembly for reconsideration to be made “immediately.”

The office of Governor:

About

• Article 153 of the United States Constitution stipulates that each state shall have a governor.
• This article also stipulates that it is not necessary for each state to have a unique governor, and thus a single individual may be appointed as the governor of multiple states.

Article 154

• The Governor’s position in the State is identical to that of the President of India, and, like the President, the Governor is the executive head of the State.
• The Governor’s position is identical to that of the President of India.In accordance with Article 154 of the Constitution, which vests the Executive power of the State in the Governor, he is granted this authority.

Governor’s powers regarding bills in the state legislature

• The Governor’s signature is required for bills enacted by a state legislature to become law.

Sending for reconsideration

• The Governor may send the bill back to the House for reconsideration; however, if the House sends the bill back unchanged, the Governor must sign that bill.
• In addition, he cannot send a Money Bill back to the State Legislature.

Reserving the bill for the president’s consideration

• The Governor also has the authority to reserve certain legislation for the President’s consideration.
• And when a governor reserves a measure for the president’s consideration, he has no further role in the bill’s passage.
• Even if the President refers the bill back to the Assembly for reconsideration, the bill will be presented to the President, not the Governor, following the reconsideration.

Withhold assent

• The Governor also has the authority to veto a bill.

Pending bill in the legislature

• If a bill is pending in the House(s), the governor can send a message to remind them of it.

Apex court’s recent addresses the issue of delay:

Article 200 & immediacy of returning a Bill

• The Supreme Court reminded Governors that the Constitution requires a decision to return a Bill to the State Assembly for reconsideration to be made “as soon as possible”
• The Court has called attention to the phrase in the first proviso to Article 200, which is intended to convey a sense of urgency regarding the return of a Bill.
• “The phrase ‘as soon as possible’ contains significant constitutional content, which constitutional authorities must keep in mind,” the Court noted.

What does this imply?

• This effectively means that it would be unconstitutional for Governors to hold onto Bills indefinitely without informing the House of their decision.

What can be done if Governors hold on to Bills indefinitely?

Role of Apex Court

• The framers of the Constitution could not have foreseen that governors would sit on bills indefinitely without exercising any of the alternatives provided in Article 200.
• This is a novel occurrence that necessitates novel solutions within the confines of the Constitution.In the larger interest of federalism in the country, it falls to the Supreme Court to establish a reasonable time frame for Governors to make a decision on a Bill passed by the Assembly.

Role of Union Government

• Article 355 of the Constitution states that it is the responsibility of the Union to ensure that each state’s government operates in accordance with its provisions.
• If the Governor does not act in accordance with the Constitution and sits on the Bills indefinitely, he makes it impossible to administer the state in accordance with constitutional provisions.
• In such a case, the government of the State is required by the Constitution to invoke Article 355, notify the President, and request that she issue appropriate instructions to the Governor to ensure that the government continues to operate in accordance with the Constitution.

Way ahead

• These provisions give abundant scope for conflict between the government and the office of Governor.
• There is no doubt that these ought to be changed, either by amending the Constitution or through an appropriate Supreme Court verdict, so that misuse of gubernatorial discretion can be kept in check.