Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 16: Under scanner of the Supreme Court, the Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi, who was playing truant for the last couple of years, has finally returned 10 of the pending bills.
The government sources said the governor on Thursday returned 10 pending bills, including two which were passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly during the tenure of the previous AIADMK government, to the state law department without giving his assent.
Mr Ravi’s action comes days after the Supreme Court came down hard on him and his Punjab counterpart, as it heard complaints by the two state governments about delays in clearing bills by their respective governors. Like the Tamil Nadu government, the Punjab government had also filed complaints in the Supreme Court against its governor Banwarilal Purohit for similar mischievous inaction on the bills sent to the governor for his assent.
The court had called the complaints “a matter of serious concern” and had also cautioned the governors against “playing with fire.” The apex court had also viewed the governor’s inaction in clearing the bills as an attempt to undermine democratic structure of constitution.
Within hours after Mr Ravi returned the bills, the Speaker M Appavu called for a special session on Saturday in which it is expected that the ruling DMK will send them straight back, in an attempt to force Mr Ravi’s hands as it will become mandatory for the Governor to sign off on them so they become laws.
Both the Tamil Nadu government and the Punjab government have accused the BJP government-appointed Governors of deliberately delaying the bills’ clearance and scuttling the state’s development by “undermining the elected administration.” Similar complaints have also been raised from several other non-BJP ruled states including West Bengal, Kerala and Telangana of the governors adopting non-cooperation attitude against the people’s elected governments.
In its approach to the court, the ruling DMK had said the Governor’s actions were “undermining the will of the people” by deliberately delaying bills sent for clearance and asked for a specific timeframe.
Among the pending bills is one that clips the Governor’s authority to appoint Vice Chancellors of state-run universities, and another seeking prosecution of ex-ministers from the AIADIMK.
Mr Ravi had earlier also returned the NEET Exemption Bill, after much delay, and forwarded it to the President of India only after the Assembly passed the bill again. He adopted a similar stance over a bill seeking a ban on online gaming. “Withholding bills is a courteous way of saying no…” he said.
A retired IPS officer, Mr Ravi has also stoked controversy in other spaces, including by promoting Sanatan Dharma – the subject of a row after Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comments on caste discrimination.
He had also avoided reading names of activists BR Ambedkar and EV Periyar, and former Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers CN Annadurai, K Kamaraj and M Karunanidhi, from a speech in the Assembly. The speech was drafted by the state government. Mr Stalin’s government later passed a resolution to not formally record Mr Ravi’s version of the speech. Earlier, the Governor also touched a raw nerve when he suggested the state name be changed to Thamizhagam.
