President should consult SC on Governor-referred bills

• The Supreme Court has set a three-month deadline for the President to decide whether to assent to State Bills referred to her by a Governor.

• The clock will start from the day the Governor referred the Bill to the President for her consideration.

• If any delay beyond this period occurs, reasons must be recorded and conveyed to the State concerned.

• States must cooperate with queries or suggestions from the Centre on the Bills.

• Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan declared the President should seek the Supreme Court’s advice on Bills reserved by a Governor for her consideration on grounds of perceived unconstitutionality.

• The court held the Tamil Nadu Governor’s decision to reserve 10 Bills to the President for her consideration “erroneous in law”.

• The President’s recourse to Article 143 also palliates any apprehensions of bias or mala fides in the Union government’s approach to Bills reserved under Article 200.

• The court warned that constitutional courts cannot be precluded from making suggestions or opining about the constitutional validity of a Bill before the same becomes law.