Editorial: Federal spirit under threat

Tamil Nadu Assembly urging the Centre and President to fix a timeframe for Governors to approve Bills is a welcome move

Hyderabad: The NDA government’s oft-repeated claim of ‘Team India’ spirit flies in its face as constitutional positions have been turned into political tools to target the non-BJP governments. The cooperative federalism model is sought to be undermined through vengefulness and non-cooperation. The role of governors is particularly coming under scanner because of their partisan approach. The tussle between the State governments and the Governors, be it in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bengal or Punjab, has been intensifying over a plethora of issues including the unnecessary intervention of the Governors in the day-to-day administration and deliberate delays on their part to give assent to the Bills. In this context, the Tamil Nadu Assembly urging the Centre and President to fix a timeframe for State Governors to approve Bills adopted by the House is a welcome move. This would help in the smooth implementation of the policies and programmes of the State governments. Like Telangana, Tamil Nadu too has been facing obstacles to its development path because several Bills have been awaiting the assent of its Governor RN Ravi, prompting Chief Minister MK Stalin to accuse him of being more faithful to the BJP leadership than the Constitution. Though the Constitution does not prescribe a time limit for Governors to approve, withhold assent or reserve Bills for the consideration of the President, courtesy and conventions demand that they be cleared swiftly so that the functioning of the executive is not adversely affected.

It is unfortunate that Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has given consent to only three of the 10 pending Bills, that too, only after the intervention of the Supreme Court. The State government was forced to seek the apex court’s intervention under Article 32 due to the frequent constitutional impasse created on account of the refusal of the Governor to act on several Bills passed by the State legislature. In recent years, instances of the Centre misusing the gubernatorial positions to cause pinpricks to the non-BJP States have increased multi-fold. It is time the country took up a wider national debate on the relevance of the Governor’s office at a time when it is largely used as a political instrument to hurt the interests of the States. Though the Constitution provides an elbow room for the Raj Bhavan to return a Bill passed by the Assembly, if the legislature clears it again, the Governor is bound to accept it. However, there is silence on the quantum of time that may be taken in this process. Article 163 of the Constitution acts as a source of the discretionary power of a Governor. As the union government nominates the Governors, the combined effect with Article 163 provides the scope for the Centre meddling in the States’ affairs. However, any attempt to encroach upon the legislature’s powers amounts to an abuse of the Governor’s authority.

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