New Delhi: Governors cannot be at liberty to keep bills pending indefinitely without any action, the Supreme Court has said while emphasising that the unelected Head of the State is entrusted with constitutional powers but that cannot be used to thwart the normal course of lawmaking by state legislatures.
Observing that unbridled discretion to the Governor would “virtually veto the functioning of the legislative domain by a duly elected legislature, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said such a course of action would be contrary to fundamental principles of a constitutional democracy based on a Parliamentary pattern of governance.
“The Governor, as an unelected Head of the State, is entrusted with certain constitutional powers. However, this power cannot be used to thwart the normal course of lawmaking by state legislatures.