BJP-appointed Governors are “trampling upon democracy” by transgressing their powers, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said on Friday as he hit out at Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi’s remarks on his discretion to withhold bills passed by the state legislature.
On Thursday, Ravi discussed assembly bills that had been forwarded to him for presidential assent during an event for the “Think to Dare” series at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai. He stated that “the governor has three options: give assent, withhold – meaning the bill is dead – which the Supreme Court and Constitution use as decent language to mean reject, and third, reserve the bill for the President.”
This is at the governor’s discretion, Ravi said.
Reacting to the remarks, Chidambaram said the Tamil Nadu governor has given a “strange and peculiar” definition to the withholding of assent to bills passed by the legislature and has said it means the “bill is dead”.
“Actually, when a governor withholds assent for no valid reason, it means ‘parliamentary democracy is dead.’” The governor is bound to grant assent, withhold assent, or return the bill. If the bill is passed again, the governor is obliged to grant assent,” the former Union minister said in a series of tweets.
The governor is a mere constitutional functionary and is the symbolic head, he said, adding that the governor’s powers are severely restricted and that he has no powers in most matters.
