Tamil Nadu notifies 10 Acts without Governor, President's assent

In a historic first, at least ten Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly since 2020, which had been denied assent by Governor RN Ravi, have now officially become laws even though neither the Governor nor President Droupadi Murmu signed them. This follows the recent Supreme Court verdict on the issue of Governors withholding assent to Bills.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court pulled up Tamil Nadu Governor, saying that his decision to withhold assent to ten key Bills was “illegal" and “arbitrary". The bench, comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, said that the Governor can’t reserve Bills for the President after withholding assent and said it must be set aside.

“The action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for the President is illegal and arbitrary. Thus, the action is set aside. All actions taken by the Governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. These Bills shall be deemed to be cleared from the date it was re-presented to the Governor," the bench said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin hailed the historical judgment, saying that the Governor had returned several Bills passed by the Assembly without granting assent amid his hostile standoff with the DMK government.

As a result, these Bills officially became laws on November 18, 2023, the day the DMK government issued notifications to that effect. Among them are laws that amend the rules for appointing Vice Chancellors of state-run universities, significantly curbing the Governor’s powers in the appointment process.