The Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan on Friday asserted that a large majority of Bills passed by the state assembly since 2021 had been cleared by Governor RN Ravi without delay, even as the government has approached the Supreme Court challenging his decision to reserve the Kalaignar University Bill for the President's consideration.
According to a statement from Raj Bhavan, 81 per cent of Bills passed since 2021 have received the Governor's assent, and 95 per cent of these were cleared within three months.
It also said 13 per cent of Bills were referred to the President, and 60 per cent of those referrals were based on the advice of the Tamil Nadu government. Further, eight Bills submitted in the last week of October are presently under consideration, the Governor's office stated.
The statement added that ten Bills were initially withheld by the Governor, and the decisions were conveyed to the government, but they were passed again by the State Assembly and submitted to him.
The clarification comes in the context of a Supreme Court ruling last month that criticised Raj Bhavan for the delay in disposing of Bills, including instances where they were "incorrectly" referred to the President.
The Court laid down timelines for the Governor to grant assent, return Bills, or refer them to the President, and also set a three-month deadline for the President to decide on bills placed before her. It also invoked its constitutional authority to declare ten bills earlier reserved by the Governor as deemed to have received assent.
The state government and Raj Bhavan have been in a prolonged confrontation over control of state universities, especially the appointment of vice-chancellors. The DMK government has passed multiple Bills replacing the Governor with the Chief Minister as chancellor of universities.
The Kalaignar University Bill, which was passed in April, seeks to establish a new university in Kumbakonam by bifurcating Bharathidasan University as a tribute to former chief minister M Karunanidhi, father of Chief Minister MK Stalin.
The DMK-led government, which is preparing for the 2026 Assembly elections, has accused the BJP and Raj Bhavan of stalling development and undermining the elected government.
Opposition-governed states have long alleged that the BJP-led Central government uses governors to run a parallel administration in non-BJP states - a charge that the BJP has consistently denied.
