TN Assembly readopts 10 bills withheld by governor at special session
He also said the state government could have waited for the Supreme Court verdict in the plea filed regarding delay by the governor in clearing bills.
Published: 19th November 2023 08:20 AM | Last Updated: 19th November 2023 02:26 PM | A+A A-
Image of Tamil Nadu Assembly. (Photo | P Jawahar, EPS)
CHENNAI : The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Saturday re-adopted the 10 bills for which Governor RN Ravi has withheld his assent. The bills were re-adopted without any change. Principal opposition party AIADMK and its erstwhile ally BJP staged a walkout for different reasons before the House re-adopted the bills.
“The governor has kept the bills pending for long, and on November 13, without giving any reason, returned the bills mentioning that ‘I withhold assent’. This Assembly feels that this is not acceptable,” CM M K Stalin said before moving the resolution for reconsideration of the bills by the House.
“This House takes note that under proviso to Article 200 of the Constitution, if these bills are passed again and presented to the governor, he shall not withhold assent therefrom,” the CM said.
Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami said since the governor has said he has withheld his assent, it would mean that the bills are still under his consideration. The government, therefore, should examine whether there are any legal issues in re-adopting the bills.
He also said the state government could have waited for the Supreme Court verdict in the plea filed regarding delay by the governor in clearing bills.
Palaniswami said if the SC gives a positive judgment, there would not be any need for a special session of the Assembly. Replying to EPS, Leader of the House, Duraimurugan, said only after the state government moved the SC, did the governor convey that he had withheld assent to the 10 bills.
Duraimurugan said the governor would be informing this to the SC when the case is taken up for hearing in a few days. If the 10 bills are readopted now before the next hearing in the SC, the governor should face the court only after giving assent to the readopted bills.
Law Minister S Regupathy also said interpretation of EPS was wrong and quoted the views expressed in the Constituent Assembly discussions in 1949. Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu also said, “Withholding assent amounts to rejection. During the previous AIADMK regime, the President returned the NEET Bill saying “withheld and returned”.
The Union government counsels also later clarified that withheld would mean that the bill had been rejected. So, to say that the bills are under the consideration of the governor, even after he had conveyed that he has withheld his assent, is totally wrong.”Speaker Appavu said, “Nowhere in the Constitution, it’s said that the House should not reconsider any bill.”
Palanswami also wanted to know whether the government’s petition is only for the 12 bills listed before the SC or it would also be for the other bills pending before the governor. To this, the CM said, in the next hearing, the government would ask the SC to direct the governor to clear all the bills and files pending with him.The re-adopted Bills were sent to Raj Bhavan on Saturday evening.
Reacting to the developments, senior advocate K Vijayan said, “As per the Constitution, the governor doesn’t have any independent powers. He can only act on the advice of the council of ministers. There is also no option for the governor to withhold the bills. He can only send the bills back for reconsideration. So, there is no need for the government to consider the terminologies used by him. If the assembly passes it again and sends it back, he is bound by it.”
Veteran journalist and advocate Tharasu Shyam said the state government should have waited for the outcome of the petition filed before the SC. “For example, if the education department withholds the result of an examination conducted, you can’t write the exam again. You have to wait for the department’s decision on the already withheld result. Similarly, since the matter is pending before the SC, re-adoption of the 10 bills is tantamount to duplication. The court may also take exception to this.”
When Palaniswami walked out of the House with his party colleagues, Duraimurugan, said, “Though the AIADMK has said that it has come out of the BJP alliance, there still seems to be an undercurrent between them. The walkout of the AIADMK MLAs has proved that the cat is out of the bag now.”
Talking to reporters, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said “The Leader of the Opposition has just played politics. The secret links between AIADMK and BJP have come to the fore. Out of fear for the people in Delhi, they have staged a walkout.”
BJP floor leader Nainar Nagenthran, before staging a walkout, said despite the advice of the speaker, many members have criticised the governor. To this, the speaker said they did not make any personal criticisms but only criticised his actions.
Govt’s take on status of bills withheld by guv
Finance Minister Thangam Thenanrasu said the term ‘withheld’ actually amounts to rejection of a bill and this has been made amply clear in a case related to NEET. Law Minister S Regupathy said the bills have been returned and are not pending. Speaker Appavu said, “Nowhere in the Constitution, it’s said that the House should not reconsider any bill.”
