As govt explores options to get four Bills cleared, Mann feels upbeat over it
Sources in the government said that they did not have many options. The most prominent was that it moved the Supreme Court as it had done in the past when the Governor had not given his approval to call the special session to condemn Operation Lotus of BJP.
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Mann, however, was Tuesday confident that the Bills will be passed soon. (File) Day after Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit wrote to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann that the two-day special session of Vidhan Sabha was “patently illegal”, the government is exploring options to get his assent for its four Bills, even as Mann said that the Bills will be “passed.”
Sources in the government said that they did not have many options. The most prominent was that it moved the Supreme Court as it had done in the past when the Governor had not given his approval to call the special session to condemn Operation Lotus of BJP. However, they said, that taking the issue to the apex court was also like a double-edged weapon.
“The SC may turn to us and say that we have not responded to Governor’s letters. That is why the Governor is also making it a point to flag it in every letter that his letters remained ‘unresponded’.”
Mann, however, was Tuesday confident that the Bills will be passed soon. While talking to the media at Panjab University in Chandigarh on Tuesday, Mann said, “All bills are pending. He (The Governor) is saying the session is in breach of law. He hadn’t given the permission for the budget session also. How come then the Supreme Court gave the permission? All four bills will be passed. Just wait a little,” he said.
Later, in a statement, he said, “In his view, the Budget session was also illegal. However, the apex court reminded him about the legal provisions then he had given sanction for the session.” The statement quoted him as saying that the session was in consonance with the ethos of the constitution of India and was totally legal.
Sources in the government said that even if the government called a monsoon session and then passed these Bills once again, the rules allowed the Governor to sit on these Bills and not respond. In that case, the government was not in a position to do anything.
If the Governor returned the Bills to the government, then these could be passed again by the Assembly. In this case, the Governor was bound to give his assent to the Bills. For now, the state’s Bills are stuck. The Bills passed by the House during the special session include The Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Amendment Bill 2023; The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023; The Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2023; and The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023.
The Bill pertaining to Punjab Police seeks to circumvent the role of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in the selection of the state police chief while one on universities seeks to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as Chancellor of state-run universities. The Bill pertaining to Sikh Gurdwaras is aimed at freeing the telecast of Gurbani from the monopoly of a channel associated with former Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal.
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