The Supreme Court’s advisory opinion on the presidential reference to the apex court’s power to impose deadlines on governors and the president for bills sent to them by state governments has come as a mixed bag of opportunities for the Kerala government.
While the fate of bills that have been rejected by the president without giving reasons has been sealed, Kerala may be able to take up the case of bills that are pending with the governor or president after a “reasonable time” based on the court’s ruling on limited judicial review in such cases, legal experts pointed out.
However, the court’s finding that no time limits could be imposed on the president or the governors to decide on pending laws spelled setback for the state government.
Interestingly, the state government had earlier sought the Supreme Court’s intervention to interpret the phrase “as soon as possible” in the first proviso to Article 200 of the Constitution on the timeline applicable to the disposal of bills submitted to the Governor. It also sought guidance on the circumstances under which the governor can reserve bills submitted to him for consideration by the president, withhold his assent or refer them back to the legislative assembly.
It was during Arif Mohammed Khan’s tenure as the Governor of Kerala that the state took the crucial decision to raise legal challenges in the Supreme Court as Mr. Khan sat on several laws passed by the State Assembly and later forwarded them to the President.
“The court order offering limited judicial review of laws pending against the President or the Governor after a reasonable period of time has come as a relief to the Kerala government,” Law Minister P. Rajeeve said.
However, it was unfortunate that the court could not come up with a clear definition of the “as soon as possible” clause. Although the intent of the framers of the Constitution in including the clause was to direct the president and governors to act on bills without delay, some presidents and governors have used the clause to never act on bills, he pointed out.
Published – 21 Nov 2025 0:33 IST
