New Delhi: Legal experts and leaders of some opposition-ruled states on Thursday expressed mixed views on the Supreme Court’s opinion on the Presidential Reference that no timelines can be prescribed for governors and the president in granting assent to bills passed by assemblies. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai held that the court cannot impose any timelines on governors and the president to grant assent to bills passed by state assemblies but at the same time said the governors do not have “unfettered” powers to sit on the bills for “perpetuity”. Reacting to the Supreme Court’s judgment, West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said a bill loses significance when it remains stuck without clarity, adding that he “personally feels” that a fixed timeline

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