Governor’s role in lawmaking

Source: This article on Governor’s role in lawmaking is based on “Governor’s assent to state laws” which was published in “The Indian Express” on 29^th March 2024.

Why in news?

Recently, Kerala has moved the SC against the withholding of assent to Bills by the President and Governor.

Governor’s role in lawmaking

1) Article 200 of the Constitution states that after a Bill has been passed by the state legislature, “it shall be presented to the Governor”.

2) Then, the Governor has three options: give assent to the Bill, withhold assent, or reserve the Bill for consideration by the President.

3) Article 200 allows the Governor to return a bill to the legislative body for reconsideration if they don’t approve it initially.

4) The provision states that the state government has the final say on enacting legislation.

President’s role in the process

1) Article 201 states that in situations where a Bill is sent to the President for consideration, the President can either give or withhold assent.

2) If assent is withheld, the President requests the Governor to return the Bill to the state legislature for reconsideration.

3) The state government then has six months to reconsider the Bill. If it is not reconsidered it will lapse.

4) If the Bill is passed once again by the state legislature, it must be sent back to the President.

5) The Governor is under no obligation to give assent when assessing the reconsidered Bill.

Note: This is the only situation in which state governments do not have the final say in their own lawmaking process.

Timeline for assent

1) In 2023, the Supreme Court of India decided on whether a Governor can refuse to approve laws passed by state legislatures if the Governor thinks the laws were made during an illegally held session.

2) The Court ruled that Governors can’t block or delay the lawmaking process of state legislatures.

3) It explained that “as soon as possible,” as mentioned in Article 200 of the Constitution, means Governors can’t just sit on a law without deciding on it forever.

4) If a Governor doesn’t want to approve a law, they must follow Article 200’s requirement to send it back to the state legislature asking for it to be looked at again.

5) However, the Court didn’t specify exactly how quickly Governors need to make this decision.

UPSC Syllabus: Nation and Polity