Constitutional silences, unconstitutional inaction

Context:

The article discusses, how the provisions under Article 200 have been used by some Governors to obscure, the mandate of democratically elected governments.

Constitutional scheme

• Deliberate gaps: The founders left deliberate gaps in the constitution to enable a future Parliament to modify and amend the Constitution. Unfortunately, it gave birth to a constitution with glaring misses, e.g., Article 200.
• Article 200: It does not prescribe a timeline for the Governor to provide assent to Bills sent by the Legislative Assembly, which results in undermining the mandate of elected governments.
• Judiciary’s View: In Purushothaman Nambudiri vs State of Kerala (1962), Supreme Court clarified that the Constitution does not impose any time limit within which the Governor should provide assent to Bills.