In a strongly worded judgement against the errant Tamil Nadu governor, the Supreme Court made it abundantly clear that governors in opposition-run states cannot be a law unto themselves. RN Ravi has been a habitual constitutional offender as in March last year the SC had admonished him for refusing to reinstate a minister on the CM's recommendation. The verdict not only clears ten pending bills (one of them stuck since January 2020) in one stroke but also limits the power of governors to delay bills inconvenient for the Centre indefinitely. The SC in Ravi's case had explicitly mentioned that his lobbing the bills in the President's court after blocking them twice was erroneous and illegal. The judgement sets a time limit of three months for governors to return the bill for the state cabinet's reconsideration if he is not satisfied about the bonafides of the legislation or send it to the president. This marks a huge win for federalism and also helps in keeping a check on the Centre's meddling in non-BJP states through appointment of partisan governors.
