Assent to Bills

Article 175, Draft Constitution 1948

A Bill which has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of a State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, has been passed by both Houses of the Legislature of the State, shall be presented to the Governor and the Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President:

Provided that where there is only one House of the Legislature and the Bill has been passed by that House, the Governor may, in his discretion, return the Bill together with a message requesting that the House will reconsider the Bill or any specified provisions thereof and, in particular, will reconsider the desirability of introducing any such amendments as he may recommend in his message and, when a Bill is so returned, the House shall reconsider it accordingly and if the Bill is passed again by the House with or without amendment and presented to the Governor for assent, the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom.

Article 200, Constitution of India 1950

When a Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of a State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, has been passed by both Houses of the Legislature of the State, it shall be presented to the Governor and the Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President:

⁠Provided that the Governor may, as soon as possible after the presentation to him of the Bill for assent, return the Bill if it is not a Money Bill together with a message requesting that the House or Houses will reconsider the Bill or any specified provisions thereof and, in particular, will consider the desirability of introducing any such amendments as he may recommend in his message and, when a Bill is so returned, the House or Houses shall reconsider the Bill accordingly, and if the Bill is passed again by the House or Houses with or without amendment and presented to the Governor for assent, the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom:

⁠Provided further that the Governor shall not assent to, but shall reserve for the consideration of the President, any Bill which in the opinion of the Governor would, if it became law, so derogate from the powers of the High Court as to endanger the position which that Court is by this Constitution designed to fill.

Draft Article 175 (Article 200) was debated on 30 July, 1 August, and 17 October 1949. It regulated the Governor’s assent to Bills.

The Chairman of the Drafting Committee moved an amendment to substitute the proviso to Article 175 so that the Governor would have the ability to return a Bill for consideration in States with a bicameral legislature. One member argued that this was unnecessary because in such states, the Legislative Council could act as a safeguard. A member of the Drafting Committee responded that the amendment removed the discretionary power of the Governor to return a Bill. Instead he would do so only on the advice of the Council of Ministers, which limits the likelihood of the misuse of the provision. The amendment was accepted by the Assembly.

The amended Draft Article was adopted on 1 August 1949.

Subsequently, a member of the Drafting Committee proposed the insertion of a second proviso to mandate the Governor to reserve any Bill which would ‘derogate from the powers of the High Court’ for the consideration of the President. He stated that the Assembly had decided to delete the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution, and therefore it was necessary to insert this proviso, whose substance had earlier been covered by the Schedule.

The amendment was adopted by the Assembly on 17 October 1949.