Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi said on Thursday that withholding a bill does not mean that the governor is holding it, but rather that the bill is dead. “It is a decent language used instead of the word ‘reject’. When you say ‘withhold’, the bill is dead,” Ravi said while addressing a gathering of civil service aspirants at Raj Bhavan. In his speech, the governor also said that the anti-pollution protests against Sterlite Copper in Tuticorin were foreign-funded.
Chief Minister M K Stalin issued a strong statement condemning the governor’s remarks about holding bills as a “dereliction of duty” even as his remarks about anti-Sterlite protestors drew strong criticism from other leaders.
Stating that the word “withholding” has been defined by the Supreme Court as “the bill falls through, the bill is dead”, Ravi said the governor is not there to make “pleasure decisions”. When the governor reserves a bill, “there is a discretion of the governor; in some cases, suppose he does not give assent to a bill in a concurrent list, if the state Assembly has passed such a bill, the governor cannot give assent to that”, he added.
“Because the Parliament has passed the law, it has to go to the President of India. So, the governor reserves it and sends it to the President, and the President can consider whether to assent or not to assent. There again, the President has the option to either assent or withhold the bill. The governor can only reserve it,” he said, adding that sometimes “governors pass the bill, thinking I do not like to be a bad boy, but that is not the right thing”.
“A governor is not there to make pleasure decisions. You have to make hard decisions also. If a particular bill is not consistent, and if it is not in the concurrent list on which Parliament has made a law, then the governor should take a call. There are two exceptions – if it is a money bill, the governor has no business; he has to give assent,” he said.
About the governor returning the bill, Ravi said, the bill returns to the Speaker for reconsideration by the House, and the House, after reconsideration and debate, sends it for reconsideration along with the reasons. “And if, after reconsideration, the Assembly again passes the bill and sends it to the governor, then the governor has no option but to accord assent. That is the constitutional position,” he said.
Ravi said governors are also viewed as representing the Union politically. “The governor is the President’s appointment. You can call the President my boss [using the word colloquially]; the Constitution makes it very clear. So, it does not cause any issues. You do your responsibility. That is all,” he said.
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Asserting that when “a bill passed by the Assembly does not mean it is passed by the legislature”, Ravi said the process also involves the governor, who is the No. 2 in the Legislative Assembly.
In his speech, the governor also said the anti-pollution protests against Sterlite Copper in Tuticorin were foreign-funded. Stating that it “was purely foreign-funded activities which led to the protests and unfortunately police firing took place that cost innocent lives”, Ravi said that the loss of lives was “a very sad part of it”.
At the peak of protests in May 2018, 13 people, including minors, were killed in police firing in Tuticorin.
Ravi said foreign forces wanted Sterlite to be closed because it produced 40 per cent of India’s copper needs. “You know how copper is important for the electronic industry. They closed it, and even now, it remains closed – 10 years down the line. All those people who were behind such protests were receiving foreign contributions. Now we need to be strict about it. It is not as strict even today, in my view, as it should be, but it is in the process,” he said.
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Ravi said that it “is okay” even if there is criticism. “People have the freedom and constitutional rights to protest and say something, and it is perfectly all right. The government has to do its job. The government has to ensure that our national interests are protected and anything that goes against purposefully meant to inhabit or retard our growth and create disharmony. So, the radicalisation that you see today, which is happening, is also mostly foreign-funded,” he said.
Regarding the Popular Front of India (PFI), Ravi said most of the funds come from outside. “They have created the India Fraternity Front forum. A very nice, very good name, isn’t it? It is all a ‘label’ for getting money to create problems and terrorist activities. He said 90 per cent of Indians who went to join the Islamic State were attracted to it through PFI and that they got money in FCR accounts. It is not acceptable. Criticism will be there; after all, it is the freedom to criticise,” he said.
Calling Ravi’s argument about the governor’s functions a “dereliction of duty”, Chief Minister M K Stalin said the governor cannot keep the bills in abeyance. Stalin said it was unbecoming of a person who holds a constitutional position to “withhold without boldly accepting or opposing” the bills. He also added that Governor Ravi has made it a habit to delay approvals for bills, ordinances, and amendments conceived by the people’s representatives. Terming it a governor “failing” in his administrative duties and evading his responsibilities, Stalin said about 14 files have been withheld by Ravi so far.
DMK’s Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi said Ravi should not “demean” the anti-Sterlite protests. She said the governor should not be demeaning anti-pollution protestors and demanded evidence for the remarks he made about them. DMK ally and Tamil nationalist leader Vaiko, a leader who was at the forefront of protests in Thoothukudi for more than a decade, also condemned Governor Ravi’s statement.
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