Supreme court sets 3-month deadline for president to decide on bills

According to the Supreme Court, the President has three months from the date of referral to make a decision on bills that the governor has reserved for her consideration. The panel of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan cleared 10 laws that were stopped and reserved for the President's assent by Tamil Nadu's governor, RN Ravi, in a 415-page ruling on April 8.

"We deem it appropriate to adopt the timeline prescribed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and prescribe that the President is required to take a decision on the bills reserved for his consideration by the Governor within a period of three months from the date on which such reference is received," they stated, establishing a timeline for all governors to act on bills passed by state assemblies.

The top court further declared that the state government must be given a suitable explanation for any delays. The state government may file a lawsuit if the governor reserves a bill for the president's consideration and the president declines to give his or her assent. According to Article 200 of the Constitution, the governor has the option to either assent to the proposed measure or not and hold it for the president's consideration.