India, Nov. 20 -- A constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday opined that governors and the President cannot be bound to any judicially imposed timelines for acting on state bills, ruling that such directions would breach separation of powers and distort the constitutional design.

The court, at the same time, clarified that while their decisions under Articles 200 and 201 (acting on bills) are generally non-justiciable, prolonged and deliberate inaction by a governor may invite limited judicial scrutiny, allowing courts to direct the governor only to choose one of the constitutionally available options without examining the merits of the bill.

Delivering the advisory opinion on a rare presidential reference, Chief Justice of I...