President returns Punjab Bill seeking removal of Governor as Chancellor

The SC gave the decision on November 10 last year. while hearing a petition by the AAP government, contending Purohit had been withholding his approval to Bills passed by the state Assembly,

“We are unfazed. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has yet to discuss the returned Bill. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is willing to explore options. We will fight again and again even if we keep hitting roadblocks. After seeking legal opinion on available options, we will proceed. A preliminary discussion settled for exploring options, including whether the state could bring the Bill back to the Vidhan Sabha, tweak it, and get it passed again,” a senior government officer said.

The officer said, “If needed, the Bill could move the Supreme Court of India. You can say that we are discussing options with some legal luminaries.” If the Bill could be brought back to the Vidhan Sabha again, the government would do it and get it passed, he added.

According to government sources, the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed by the Assembly as Purohit, Vice Chancellors of state universities, was not clearing the appointments of several experts, stating he was the Chancellor of these universities. But Purohit sent the three Bills to the President in December last year, a month after the SC ruling.

“The Governor cannot be at liberty to keep the Bill pending indefinitely without taking any action whatsoever. Failing to make a decision and keeping a duly passed Bill pending for indeterminate periods is a course of action inconsistent with that expression,” said a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra in a 27-page ruling.

“This is not the first time a Punjab governor sent a Bill to the President. Earlier, former President KR Narayanan had given his assent to the Urban Rent Control (Amendment) Bill, which then became an Act,” said another government officer.

The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to bring an independent mechanism for the selection and appointment to the post of the police chief, while the Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 aimed at opening up the rights to telecast Gurbani.