Himachal Speaker: 12 Bills pending with President, Governor for over three months to be deemed passed

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Pathania today said that in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling, 12 Bills cleared by the Himachal Vidhan Sabha but were pending with the Governor or the President of India for their assent for more than three months would be deemed to have been passed.

Pathania, while addressing mediapersons, said, “Of the total 73 Bills passed by the 14th Vidhan Sabha, 12 are still awaiting the assent of the Governor or the President. The Supreme Court ruling will now be applicable to these pending Bills, which include five pertaining to raising the emoluments of the legislators.”

He was responding to a question about the status of the Bill passed by the Assembly regarding increasing the emoluments of the Chief Minister, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, ministers and MLAs during the Budget session in March this year.

The Speaker’s remarks come amid an ongoing standoff between the Raj Bhawan and the state government over the delay in the grant of assent to many Bills, including the one regarding an amendment to the Act for the appointment of Vice-Chancellors of two horticulture and agriculture universities. Since the Bill passed by the Assembly in 2023 was still to be granted assent by the Governor, it had delayed the appointment of Vice-Chancellors of the two varsities.

The state government has now decided to get this Bill passed by the Assembly again in the forthcoming monsoon session so as to pave the way for the appointment of the two Vice-Chancellors. Besides, there are some other Bills that are pending with the Governor and the President of India for their assent.

Asked about the justification for increasing the emoluments of the legislators at a time when the state was reeling under the impact of severe rain disasters, Pathania said that from time to time, all MLAs, cutting across party lines, had donated their one month salary for disaster relief. “I will donate my one month salary this time also and hope that all legislators will do the same,” he added.

Pathania also spoke at length about reviving the committee system in the Vidhan Sabha. “I am of the firm opinion that the committee system, which had existed in the past, must be strengthened. It gives an opportunity to address the grievances of people who have not got relief despite court orders or a provision in rules for it,” he added.

He said that all such aggrieved people could write to the Vidhan Sabha as it was the responsibility not only of the government but also of the elected representatives to address their grievances. “I will speak to ministers also as invariably there is a very poor rate of compliance with the Vidhan Sabha committee reports,” he added.