June session breach of law, says Punjab Governor as gurdwaras Bill awaits his approval

Ruchika M Khanna

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Chandigarh, July 17

Casting aspersions on the legality of the four Bills passed by the Punjab Assembly last month, Governor Banwarilal Purohit has said the Special Vidhan Sabha session called by the Aam Aadmi Party government on June 19 and 20 was “in breach of law and procedure”, a statement dubbed “unfortunate” by the ruling AAP.

The Governor, in a letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, said he had received legal advice on the matter and he was of the belief that it was a breach of law.

This came in reply to a letter sent by the CM on Saturday, wherein Mann had accused the Governor of delaying assent to the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, saying it was passed in order to do away with the monopoly on the telecast of Gurbani from Darbar Sahib by a news channel owned by a political family. This Bill, along with the Punjab Police Amendment Bill, was sent to the Governor for approval on June 26, followed by the other two Bills a few days later. Without mentioning this in the letter, the Governor has questioned the validity of the other three Bills — Punjab Police Amendment Bill, 2023, (regarding appointment of state DGP); Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Protection of Services) Amendment Bill, 2023, and the Punjab University Laws Amendment Bill, 2023, (which seeks to remove the Governor as chancellor of state universities) — too and these also unlikely to get the nod anytime soon.

After the two-day session last month, the Governor had said he would first examine the constitutional legality of the session. He had said he wanted to see if the special session was an extension of the Budget session, because the Vidhan Sabha was not prorogued. “If it was an extension then we need to examine whether the Bills could be passed or the proceedings had to be restricted only to the Budget-related business,” he had said.

In his letter today, the Governor said: “I do wish to point out that I, as Governor, am enjoined by the Constitution to ensure Bills are passed in accordance with law. In order to discharge my duties conscientiously, I have proceeded to receive legal advice… In the background of the legal advice received, I am actively considering whether to obtain the legal opinion from the Attorney General of India, or as per the Constitution, to reserve these Bills for the consideration and consent of the President of India. As Chief Minister, you will appreciate that people of Punjab are equally concerned with ensuring that laws which ultimately affect them are passed after following due procedure. You may be rest assured that I shall take action according to law after the legality of the Vidhan Sabha session held on June 19-20 is first examined,” he wrote.

Chief spokesperson for AAP Malvinder Singh Kang said it was unfortunate and wrong that a session called by the government had been declared unconstitutional. “The Governor is working on the policy of troubling non-BJP state governments, adopted by the BJP-led Centre, because the saffron party is getting jittery about the performance and rising popularity of the Mann government,” he said.