P Chidambaram slams Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi over his “Bill is dead” remark

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday lashed out at Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi over his “Bill is dead” remark, saying it means “Parliamentary Democracy is dead”.

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Thursday, while talking with the aspirants of the civil services clarified about the role of the Governor in the Constitution. He said that the Governor has the choice to give his assent or withhold it to a Bill passed by the state assembly.

P Chidambaram added that a strange definition is being given by the Tamil Nadu Governor regarding the withholding of assent to Bills passed by the Legislature.

He further added that it means “Bill is dead’. Actually, when a Governor withholds assent for no valid reason, it means ‘Parliamentary Democracy is dead’.”

The Governor said “withholding” is a “decent language” used for rejecting a Bill.

He also said the Governor looks into a Bill to check if it “transgresses the constitutional limit” and the state government has exceeded “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 that transgresses the Constitutional limit. “In a legislature, a political party has a brute majority, let us say, can pass any Bill,” he said.