“Withhold Bill – Decent Language To Mean…”: Governor vs MK Stalin Again

Only by withdrawing his statement can the Governor be true to his oath, Mr Stalin said.

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Thursday stoked controversy with his remarks on withholding bills sent by the state assembly, which the MK Stalin-led state government said was “unbecoming” of a person who holds a Constitutional position. Mr Ravi claimed withholding a bill is a decent language to mean rejected.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin condemned the Governor’s comments and demanded he withdraw his statement. His party has maintained that needlessly delaying approval of bills amounted to “dereliction of duty” on the part of the Governor.

“Governor, escaping from his administrative duties and roles, didn’t give assent to 14 documents like bills, Ordinance and act which were introduced by people’s representatives who were all elected by crores of people,” Mr Stalin said in a statement.

The Chief Minister alleged that the Governor is a “total obstruction”.

RN Ravi made the controversial comments during his interaction with civil service aspirants for the ‘Think to Dare’ series at Raj Bhavan on Thursday. On the tussle with the state government on Assembly bills forwarded to him for presidential assent, he said, “The Governor has three options: Give assent, withhold – meaning the bill is dead – which the Supreme Court and Constitution use as a decent language to mean reject, and third reserve the bill for the President. This is the Governor’s discretion.”

He also said that the Governor looks into the Bill if it does not “transgress the Constitutional limit” and the state government does not “exceed its competence”.

“Our Constitution has created the position of Governor and defined his roles and responsibilities. The first and foremost responsibility of the Governor is to protect the Constitution of India because whether it is the Union or the State, each of these entities has to work according to the Constitution. How do you protect the Constitution? Suppose, a state makes a law which transgresses the Constitutional limit. In a legislature, a political party has a brute majority, let us say, they can pass any Bill,” he said.

MK Stalin hit out at the Governor, pointing out that he has not given assent to even a money bill, which Mr Ravi himself admitted he can’t withhold. He said it was “unbecoming” of a person who holds a Constitutional position to “withhold without boldly accepting or opposing” the bills.

“The Governor carelessly sharing his official stand in public is a breach. He has not given assent to the bill banning online rummy sent as a money bill. This is unconstitutional,” Mr Stalin said.

Only by withdrawing his statement can the Governor be true to his oath, Mr Stalin said, adding that he ought to give assent if the assembly passes a bill for the second time.

“This is scuttling the state’s administration. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Governor is a shorthand of the state government. He shouldn’t think of himself as a dictator,” he added.

The Chief Minister also claimed that the Governor had made a habit of delaying the bills, ordinances and amendments conceived by the people’s representatives, and sent to him for approval.

The Governor also alleged foreign funding behind the 2018 anti-Sterlite protests in Thoothukudi and the Kudankulam nuclear plant.

Raj Bhavan sources said that the Governor’s comments were general, and he didn’t specify any bill in particular.