RN Ravi refutes DMK's claim on delaying assent to bills; releases data
Tamil Nadu Governor's office denies DMK's claims of bill delays, stating 77 of 81 bills were approved in time, and 60 pc reserved for President's consideration
The ruling DMK and its alliance partners have recently ramped up their criticism of Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, accusing him of intentionally delaying assent to bills that were passed with strong backing from the state’s elected representatives in the assembly.
In a pointed rebuttal to the criticism, the Raj Bhavan on Friday (November 7) dismissed the charges by the DMK as unfounded, releasing official data to say the Governor had processed 95 per cent of all the pending bills within constitutional timelines.
'Factually incorrect'
In its statement, the Raj Bhavan challenged the claims that Ravi is deliberately delaying giving his assent to bills passed by the state legislative assembly, asserting that such accusations are unfounded and factually incorrect.
The release shared official records showing that out of 81 bills received as of October 31, around 95 per cent were approved within three months, the stipulated time frame.
"These figures underscore the Governor's commitment to timely processing," the statement noted, adding that 60 per cent of the total bills (48 bills) were reserved for the consideration of the President of India. The remaining bills were received by the government in the last week of October and are currently under review.
The release clarified that eight bills are currently under consideration, which were received in the last week of October. The following table shows the data shared by the Raj Bhavan statement:
It further said the bills previously returned by the Governor – including those related to the University Grants Commissions (UGC) regulations – were subsequently passed again by the Assembly and have been approved.
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Addressing a specific point of contention, the statement said 10 bills were withheld by the Governor, and the decisions were conveyed to the Assembly. These were reserved for the consideration of the President of India, as they were deemed contrary to the provisions of the UGC and hence beyond the remit of the state legislature.