CHENNAI: Asserting that the DMK will continue its fight for states’ rights and federalism, party president and Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday said that he would not rest until the Constitution is amended to fix timelines for governors to act on bills.
Stalin emphasised that that the opinion on the Presidential Reference will not have any impact on the apex court’s April 8 order, in the case filed by the state against the governor regarding inordinate delays in deciding on several bills.
A two-judge bench had granted “deemed assent” to 10 bills, besides fixing a time limit for governors to decide. “Advisory opinion of the court would have no more effect than the opinion of the law officers,” Stalin said, quoting the order issued by the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Ahmedabad St Xavier’s College Society v State of Gujarat in 1974. Stalin further pointed out that the SC has reaffirmed the primacy of the elected governments.
He said the court had said, “The elected government should be in the driver’s seat and there cannot be two executive power centres in the state.”
Highlighting that the court had also said the constitutional functionaries must act within the constitutional framework and never above it, he said the governor has no option to kill the bill or exercise a pocket veto by indefinitely sitting on it, as was done by Governor RN Ravi. Stalin said the SC’s opinion has once again rejected the TN governor’s theory of pocket veto and his assertion that bills can be killed or buried by the Raj Bhavan.
Stalin said the Tamil Nadu government through legal battle, has now “compelled” governors who are at odds with their elected governments “to work in line with the elected government and be accountable for their deliberate inaction in response to the people’s will through legislation”. He added that governors cannot hide behind the immunity offered to them by Article 361.
Maintaining that he believed that no constitutional authority can claim to be above the constitution, he said when even a high constitutional authority breaches the constitution, the constitutional courts are the only remedy available and their doors must not be closed. “This would undermine the rule of law and encourage breaches of the constitution by governors acting with political intent,” the CM said. “Until our people’s will in Tamil Nadu is fulfilled through legislation, we will ensure that every constitutional apparatus functions in accordance with the Constitution,” he concluded.