Tamil Nadu government on Saturday contended that if the Governor had withheld assent for a Bill, it meant that he had rejected it and the Bill can then be reconsidered and readopted by the Assembly for sending it back for Governor’s assent.
Participating in the discussion on the resolution moved by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to reconsider the 10 Bills for which Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi had conveyed his decision of withholding assent, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Edappadi K. Palaniswami said withholding assent could mean that the Bill was still pending with the Governor and not rejected. He raised concern over the legality of the Assembly readopting these Bills.
Responding to Mr. Palaniswami, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said withholding assent was just a “euphemism” for rejection. He pointed out that when the President “withheld assent” for a Bill adopted by the Tamil Nadu Assembly to exempt the State from National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) during the previous AIADMK government, the Union government clarified in the court that the Bill had in fact been “rejected”.
