As Bengal govt moves Supreme Court over pending bills, 7 deal with state varsities and CM as Chancellor

According to the state government, the eight Bills pending with the Raj Bhavan are

The West Bengal Private University Laws (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Assembly in June 2022

• The West Bengal Krishi Viswavidyalaya Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, passed by the Assembly in June 2022
• The West Bengal University of Health Sciences (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Assembly in June 2022
• The Aliah University (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Assembly in June 2022
• The West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Assembly in July 2023
• The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Assembly in August 2023.

Six of these Bills were passed in June 2022 when Jagdeep Dhankhar was the Governor of Bengal, and two others when CV Ananda Bose stepped into Raj Bhavan.

Sources in the Raj Bhavan said that out of the eight Bills listed above, six were reserved for the consideration of President Droupadi Murmu.

A senior Raj Bhavan official said: “The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, relating to the selection of vice-chancellors is sub-judice. Regarding the eight Bill — West Bengal Town and Country (Planning & Development) (Amendment) Bill — no representative of the state government turned up at the Raj Bhavan despite being called for clarifications,” said the official.

The ruling TMC, meanwhile, accused the Governor of “putting up roadblocks” in the functioning of the state government.

“It is a Constitutional mandate for the Governor to cooperate with the elected government of the day… It is a deliberate act of political vendetta meted out by the Centre where the Governor has become the agent of a political party. The Raj Bhavan under the present Governor and its predecessor has tried to derail the process of the governance and development carried out by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” said TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar.