The Supreme Court has comprehensively clarified the constitutional framework governing the Governor’s and President’s powers to grant, withhold, or reserve assent to Bills under Articles 200 and 201. Responding to a Presidential Reference arising from widespread uncertainty particularly after the Tamil Nadu Governor’s assent controversy the Constitution Bench laid down a structured set of conclusions that now form the definitive guide on the subject.
The Court held that a Governor has only three constitutionally recognised options when a Bill is presented:
• Grant assent,
• Reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President, or
• Withhold assent by returning the Bill to the Legislature with comments—a route available only for non-Money Bills.
Crucially, the Court emphasised that the first proviso to Article 200 does not create a fourth option; it restricts, not expands, the Governor’s choices. The Court noted that “withholding assent” can occur only through the return mechanism, never through silent inaction.
In a significant constitutional clarification, the Court held that the Governor enjoys discretion in choosing among these three options and is not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers while exercising powers under Article 200. At the same time, the Bench ruled that the Governor’s decision on the merits is not justiciable. Courts cannot review why a Governor chose a particular option.
However, the Court drew an important distinction: prolonged, unexplained, or indefinite inaction is subject to limited judicial review. In such cases, a mandamus may be issued directing that the Governor discharge his constitutional function within a reasonable time, without dictating the option to be exercised.
Addressing concerns over immunity, the Court reaffirmed that Article 361 protects the Governor personally, but does not bar judicial scrutiny of the constitutional office or its failure to act. Thus, while the Governor cannot be summoned or made a party, the Court retains jurisdiction to ensure constitutional compliance.
The Bench declined to prescribe judicial timelines for the Governor or the President, holding that doing so would amount to rewriting the Constitution. For similar reasons, the President’s powers under Article 201 were also held to be discretionary and non-justiciable, subject only to the same limited review in cases of unreasonable inaction.
The Court went on to clarify that the President need not refer every reserved Bill to the Supreme Court under Article 143. The President’s subjective satisfaction is sufficient, and reference to the Court is optional, not mandatory.
The Court also reiterated that decisions of the Governor or President before a Bill becomes law are not open to judicial review. Courts cannot examine the contents of a Bill prior to its enactment. The Court ruled that Article 142 cannot be used to imply “deemed assent” or to substitute the constitutional functions assigned to the Governor or the President.
Finally, the Court declined to answer portions of the Reference relating to bench composition under Article 145(3), the scope of Article 142 in the abstract, and Centre–State dispute resolution outside Article 131, holding that these issues were irrelevant to the functional nature of the advisory request.
The Court summarised the findings below:
• Governor has only three options under Article 200: Assent; Reserve for President and Return the Bill with comments (not for Money Bills).
• No fourth option under the proviso; it only limits existing choices.
• Governor has discretion in choosing among the three options and is not bound by ministerial advice.
• Merits of the Governor’s decision are non-justiciable.
• Inaction is reviewable: Courts may issue a limited mandamus if the Governor delays action indefinitely.
• Article 361 immunity is personal, but the office of the Governor can be judicially reviewed for inaction.
• No judicial timelines can be imposed on the Governor’s decision-making.
• President’s assent powers mirror the Governor’s: discretionary and non-justiciable.
• No judicial timelines for the President under Article 201.
• President need not seek Article 143 reference for every reserved Bill; it is optional.
• Courts cannot review a Bill before it becomes law.
• Article 142 cannot create ‘deemed assent’ or override the Governor’s/President’s roles.
• Questions on bench composition, scope of Article 142 in general, and Union–State disputes beyond Article 131 were left unanswered as irrelevant to the reference.
Appearances:
Nodal Counsel Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Ms. Misha Rohatgi, Adv. Mr. Ayush Kashyap,Adv. For Respondent(s)/Applicant(s): Mr. R. Venkataramani, Attorney General for India Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Kanu Agrawal,Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Ms. Sansriti Pathak, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Madhav Singhal, Adv. Mr. Arkaj Kumar, Adv. Mr. Mili Joy Baxi, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Ms. Astha Singh, Adv. Ms. Rajeshwari Shankar, Adv. Mr. Chitvan Singhal,Adv. Mr. Abhishek Kumar Pandey,Adv. Mr. Kartikay Aggarwal,Adv. Ms. Ameyvikrama Thanvi,Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav,Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma,Adv. Mr. Anandh Venkataramani,Adv. Ms. Deboshree Mukherjee,Adv. Ms. Oorasvi Goswami,Adv. Ms. Yamika Khanna,Adv. Ms. Anjali Agrawal,Adv. Ms. Rishti Vimadalal,Adv. Mr. Devraj Singh,Adv. Mr. K.M. Nataraj, A.S.G. Mr. Pitambar Acharya, Advocate General Ms. Samapika Biswal, AOR Mr. Prasenjeet Mohapatra, Adv. Ms. Soumya Sannidhanam, Adv. Ms. Mehak Kumar, Adv. Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv. Mr. Ruturaj Satapathy, Adv. Ms. Sukanya Das, Adv. Ms. Visakha Raghuram, Adv. Mr. Somkeerti V Singhdeo, Adv. Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv. Mr. Chitransh Sharma, Adv. Mr. Yogya Rajpurohit, Adv. Ms. Ritika Khatri, Adv. Mr. Anuj Udupa, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Chinmoy Pradip Sharma, Sr. A.A.G. Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, Adv. Ms. Purvat Wali, Adv. Ms. Atiga Singh, Adv. Mr. Piyush Vyas, Adv. Mr. Irfan Hasieb, Adv. Mr. Vijay Deora, Adv. Mr. Aditya Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Vinay Navare, Sr. Adv. Mr. A. Radhakrishnan, AOR Mr. Shivkumar, Adv. Mr. K.M. Nataraj, A.S.G. Mr. Sharan Dev Singh Thakur, Sr. A.A.G. Ms. Ruchira Goel, AOR Mr. Siddharth Thakur, Adv. Ms. Pallavi Singh, Adv. Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv. Mr. Chitransh Sharma, Adv. Mr. Yogya Rajpurohit, Adv. Ms. Ritika Khera, Adv. Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Kunal Vajani, Adv. Mr. Debanjan Mandal, Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Mr. Kartikey Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Shraddha Chirania, Adv. Ms. Aparajita Jamwal, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Parikh, Adv. Mr. Abhijit Chimni, Adv. Ms. Manisha Singh, Adv. Ms. Rupali Samuel, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rakesh Diwedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. P Wilson, Sr. Adv. Mr. T. Harish Kumar, AOR Mr. Apoorv Malhotra, Adv. Mr. Sidharth Seem, Adv. Mr. Uday Bhatia, Adv. Mr. Sabir, Adv. Mr. Deepak Jian, Adv. Mr. Lokesh Krishna, Adv. Mr. Raktim Gogai, Adv. Mr. Kartikeya Singh, Adv. Mr. Eklavya Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Shubham Kothari, Adv. Mr. Shubham P. Chopra, Adv. Mr. Aiyushi Daga, Adv. Mr. Preetika Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. B Aravind, Adv. Mr. Aditya Ojha, Adv. Mr. K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Pv Surenderanath, Sr. Adv. Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR Mr. Sidhant Kohli, Adv. Ms. Meena K Poulose, Adv. Mr. Sawan Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Gopal Subramanium, Sr. Adv. Mr. Naveen Sharma, AOR Mr. Basava Prabhu S Patil, Adv. Gen./Sikkim, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv. Ms. Ripul Swati Kumari, Adv. Ms. Yachna Sharma, Adv. Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Krishna Rastogi, Adv. Mr. Samarth Kashyap, Adv. Mr. Arijeet Shukla Adv., Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr. Adv. Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Karl P Rustomkhan, Adv. Mr. Dhananjay Dutta Shrimali, Adv. Ms. Vanshika Singh, Adv. Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee,ASG Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani,Sr.Adv. Mr. Arvind Datar,Sr.Adv. Mr. Anand Sharma,Adv. Mr. S Niranjan Reddy, Sr. Adv. Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Kumar Vaibhaw, Adv. Mr. Vineet George, Adv. Ms. Akhila, Adv. Ms. Rajeswari Mukherjee, Adv. Mr. Salar Aatif, Adv. Mr. Pradyuman Kaistha, Adv. Mr. Harish Salve, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. Ms. Chitransha Singh Sikarwar, Adv. Mr. N.K. Kaul, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prashant Singh, Advocate General Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania, AOR Mr. Pashupati Nath Razdan, Adv. Ms. Mrinal Elker Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Sharma, Adv. Ms. Ira S. Mahajan, Adv. Mr. Varad Kohle, Adv. Mr. Saumitra Kumar, Adv. Mr. Udit Sidhra, Adv. Mr. Toshiv Goyal, Adv. Mr. Raghav Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Guru Krishna Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv. Mr. Aman Dev Sharma, Adv. Ms. Aakanksha, Adv. Mr. Gaj Singh, Adv. Mr. Vikas Singh Jangra, Adv. Mr. Bhakti Vardhan Singh, Adv. Mr. Pawan Kishore Singh, Adv. Mr. Amit Ojha, Adv. Ms. Karishma Malani, A.A.G. Ms. Kirti, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Ms. Makrand Pratap Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditi Tyagi, Adv. Ms. Sindhoora Vnl, Adv. Mr. Vikas C Shukla, Adv. Mr. Ashwin K, Adv. Mr. Vishesh Goyal, Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Prabhas Bajaj, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Mr. Kartikeya Asthana, Adv. Ms. Sonali Gaur, Adv. Mr. Rangasaran Mohan, Adv. Mr. Amarpal Singh Dua, Adv. Mr. Milind Rai, Adv. Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv. Mr. Amogh Bansal, Adv. Ms. Saubhagya Sundriyal, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar, Sr. Adv., Advocate General/Meghalaya Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Ms. Rekha Bakshi, Adv. Mr. Aditya Shankar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Luv Kumar, Adv. Ms. Aarushi Malik, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Sehrawat, Adv. Ms. Apoorva, Adv. Mr. K N Balgopal, Adv. General/Nagaland, Sr. Adv. Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Mr. Vitso Rio, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Adv. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Mr. Shivam Singh, Adv. Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Anil Shrivastav, A.A.G. Ms. Disha Singh, AOR Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv. Ms. Sanya Kaushal, Adv. Ms. Riya Sagar, Adv. Mr. Prashant Rawat, Adv. Mr. Kartik Dey, Adv. Mr. Lenin Singh Hijam, Adv. Gen, Sr, Adv. Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Prashant Kumar Umrao, AOR Mr. Rishesh Sikarwar, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv. Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Tomar, Adv. Mr. Yaduven, Adv. Mr. Anandh Venkataramani, Adv. Ms. Ameyavikrama Thanvi, Adv. Deboshree Mukherjee, Adv. Chitvan Singhal, Adv. Abhishek Kumar Pandey, Adv. Raman Yadav, Adv. Kartikay Aggarwal, Adv. Oorjasvi Goswami, Adv. Yamika Khanna, Adv. Anjali Agrawal, Adv. Rishit Vimadalal, Adv. Devvrat Singh, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Praphulla Kumar Bharat, Advocate General Mr. Apoorv Kurup, A.A.G. Mr. B.s Rajesh Agrajit, D.A.G. Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR Mr. Arjun D Singh, Adv. Mr. Apoorv Shukla, Adv. Mr. Yimyanger Longkumar, Adv. Ms. Ishika Neogi, Adv. Mr. Sudarshan Singh Rawat, AOR Ms. Saakshi Singh Rawat, Adv. Mr. Virendra Rawat, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Singh, Adv. Mr. Sunny Sachin Rawat, Adv. Mr. Anup Kumar Rattan, Advocate General Mr. Arman Roop Sharma, Adv. Ms. Shimpy Sharma, Adv. Mr. Mohd. Aman Khan Afghani, Adv. Ms. Priya Pachouri, Adv. Mr. Nishkarsh Pharswal, Adv. Mr. Pramod Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Vivek Tiwari, Adv. Ms. Priyanka Dubey, Adv. Dr. Vinod Kumar Tewari, AOR Mr. Vivek Sharma, AOR Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Adv. Ms. Charu Mathur, AOR Ms. Avani Bansal, Adv. Ms. Parika Singh, Adv. Mr. Suva Batabyal, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Kaushik, Adv. Ms. Sayyed Gulerana Shabbir Ali, Adv. Ms. Anindita Mitra, AOR Mr. Gopal Shankarnarayan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Adv. Mr. Vishal Sinha, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Kumar Yadav, Adv. Mr. Shailendra Mani Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Misra, Adv. Mr. Naman Shrestra, Adv. Mr. Mujahid Ahmad, Adv. Mr. Chand Qureshi, AOR Mr. Himanshu Tyagi,Adv. Mrs. Anjale Kumari,Adv. Ms. Pooja Shipkar,Adv. Mr. Madhav Gupta, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Thaldur,Adv. Mr. Nishant Verma,Adv. Mr. Manoj K. Mishra, Adv. Mr. Barun Kumar Sinha, Adv. Mrs. Pratibha Sinha, Adv. Mr. Sneh Vardhan, Adv. Mr. Chhail Bihari Singh, Adv. Mr. Rakesh Mudgal, Adv. Mr. Pankaj Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Niraj, Adv. Mr. Ritu Raj, Adv. Mrs. Kanika, Adv. Mr. Sidhant Thakur, Adv. Mr. Rahul G Tanwani, Adv. Mr. Anantha Narayana M.g., AOR Mr. V.C. Shukla, Adv. Mrs. Sindoora Vnl, Adv. Mrs. Aditi Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Vaibhav Singh, Adv. Mr. A.D.N. Rao,Sr.Adv. Mr. Barun Kumar Sinha,Adv. Mr. Anantha Nrayana M.G.,Adv. Mr. A.D.N. Rao,Sr.Adv. Dr. suvidutt M.S.,Adv. Ms. Deepika Singh,Adv. Ms. Disha Puri,Adv. Mr. P. Wilson,Sr.Adv. Mr. A. Mariarputham, Sr.Adv Mr. Richardson Wilson,Adv. Mr. Apoorv Malhotra,Adv. Mr. Lokesh Krishna,Adv. Mr. Ankit Sharma,Adv. Mr. Aditya Ojha,Adv. Mr. Aravind,Adv. Mr. Saran Raghunandhan,Adv. Ms. Anuradha Arputham,Adv. Mr. Varun K. Chopra,Adv. For M/s. VKC Law Offices Mr. Sudiep Shrivastavba,Adv. Mr. Pranav Sachdeva,Adv. Ms. Neha Rathi,Adv. Mr. Abhay Nair,Adv. Mr. P. Rohit Ram,Adv. Mr. Sanyam Jain,Adv. Mr. Pratik R. Bombarde,Adv. Mr. Devendra Singh,Adv. Ms. Kirti Anand,Adv. Mr. Abhishek Kumar,Adv. Mr. Kapil Sibal,Sr.Adv. Mr. Gopal Subramanium, Sr. Adv. Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhavi,Sr.Adv. Mr. Shashikiran Shetty,A.G. Mr. Prateek K. Chadha,AAG Mr. Muhammad Ali Khan,AAG Mr. Nishant Patil,AAG Mr. Aman Panwar,AAG Mr. Avishkar Singhvi,AAG Ms. Tarannum Cheema,AAG Mr. Naveen Sharma, AOR Mrs. Swati Bhushan Sharma,Adv. Mr. S.K. Sharma,Adv. Mr. Amit Bhandari,Adv. Ms. Gauri Subramanium,Adv. Mr. Omar Hoda,Adv. Mr. Pavan Bhushan,Adv. Mr. Jaivardhan Singh,Adv. Ms. Rupali Samuel,Adv. Ms. Sumedha Ray Sarkar,Adv. Ms. Adoorya Harish,Adv. Mr. Sreekar Yechuri,Adv. Mr. Aniket Chauhaan,Adv. Ms. Eesha Bakshi,Adv. Mr. Arjun Sharma,Adv.
