The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that timelines cannot be fixed for the grant of assent to Bills by the Governor and the President under Articles 200 and 201 respectively.

In a unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai said that the concept of "deemed assent" was against the spirit of the Constitution and the doctrine of separation of powers.

Noting that Articles 200 and 201 were framed to allow elasticity, the Bench -- which also included Justice Surya Kant, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice AS Chandurkar – said the imposition of a timeline was strictly contrary to it.

“The concept of deemed assent presupposes that constitutional authority would place a substitute role for the role of the governor- its antithetical

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