Proviso to Article 200 which deals with Governor’s Power to assent a bill, provides reservation of bill by the Governor for the consideration of the President. It reads,
“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.”
Article 200 provides three courses of action to the Governor when a bill is presented to him – to assent, to withhold assent or to reserve the bill for the consideration of the President. If he declares assent, then the bill becomes an Act of the State legislature. If he withholds assent, then the procedure prescribed under the first proviso springs into motion. However, the procedure which is to be followed once a bill is reserved for the consideration of the President is provided in Article 201 of the Constitution.
Article 201 was adopted without any debate in the Constituent Assembly on 01st August, 1949. It reads as follows: “201. Bills reserved for consideration,
“When a Bill is reserved by a Governor for the consideration of the President, the President shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom:
Provided that, where the Bill is not a Money Bill, the President may direct the Governor to return the Bill to the House or, as the case may be, the Houses of the Legislature of the State together with such a message as is mentioned in the first proviso to article 200 and, when a Bill is so returned, the House or Houses shall reconsider it accordingly within a period of six months from the date of receipt of such message and, if it is again passed by the House or Houses with or without amendment, it shall be presented again to the President for his consideration.”
A plain reading of Article 201 indicates that once a bill is reserved by the Governor for the consideration of the President, the President has two options to choose from – he may either assent to the bill, which would bring the legislative process to a conclusion and the bill would become an act, or he may withhold his assent to the bill.
The proviso to Article 201 provides that in case of bills other than money bills, the President may direct the Governor to return the bill to the State legislature together with a message as is mentioned in the first proviso to Article 200. Once the bill is so returned, the State legislature is required to reconsider the bill in light of the suggestions of the President within a period of six months and if the Bill is passed again, with or without amendments, it shall be presented again to the President for his consideration.
Any symptoms of lethargy exhibited by the State legislature which is the recipient of a bill sent after the procedure under Article 201 is adopted, is viewed strictly by the Constitution. Here, inaction by the State legislature or delayed action by them in terms of repassing of the bill would cause the bill to “fall through” instead. The consequences of the failure to act promptly and in a punctual manner is more grave and severe for the State legislature under Article 201 since the premise is that the occasion for the reservation of a bill for the consideration of the President by the Governor may arise where a constitutional provision makes the assent of the President a condition precedent to a State legislation becoming enforceable or for the purpose of conferring some immunity upon the State legislation. Such a requirement can be found in Articles 31A, 31C, 254(2), 288(2), 360(4)(a)(ii) etc.