The Supreme Court reminded the state constitutional heads to remember that Article 200 of the Constitution requires them to either give assent or return bills "as soon as possible" at a time when states run by opposition parties are protesting governors' inaction on bills passed by the assembly.
Although the apex court did not, as demanded by Telangana, set a timeline for governors to either clear or return the bills, the bench’s “as soon as possible” reminder was recorded as an order by a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha.
The Telangana administration had petitioned the court, complaining that governor Tamilisai Soundarajan had taken too long to act on 10 measures that had been approved by the assembly. Tushar Mehta, the solicitor general, however, told the court that the governor had no open bills.
The bench referred to the first proviso of Article 200 - which states “provided that the governor may, as soon as possible after the presentation to him of the bill for assent, return the bill if it is not a money bill together with a message requesting that the House or Houses will reconsider the bill or any specified provisions thereof… as soon as possible” - and said the expression had a significance which should be borne in mind by the constitutional authorities, indicating that the governors were either unaware of it or were deliberately not heeding it.
This was recorded by the bench despite the SG protesting that it was unwarranted as the governor’s office had informed the SC that no bills were pending with the governor. It said two - Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment), Bill 2022 - had been returned with the governor’s messages.