Punjab governor calls special Assembly session 'patently illegal', fate of 4 Bills hangs in balance

Ruchika M Khanna

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Chandigarh, July 24

Firing another salvo at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit has said that letters sent by him to the Governor are “lying unattended” and that he has been receiving “various complaints of corruption”.

The letter by the Governor sent to the Chief Minister Mann this evening seems to have been “inspired” by the statement made by the latter on Saturday, where Mann had said “… it is unfortunate that the Governor didn’t know if the session was legal or illegal and hasn’t taken any legal opinion”. Mann was referring to the letter sent to him by the Governor on last Monday, wherein he had questioned the legality of the four Bills passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on June 19-20, saying that the session itself was in breach of the law and procedure.

The Governor, responding to the CM’s statement on the issue, made on Saturday, said that it was unfortunate that such a statement was made. “For your information, opinion has been taken from one of the leading constitutional expert. Crux of the opinion is attached for your knowledge, which clearly mentions that the house so summoned was patently illegal. Now nothing remains to be responded to your comments,” he has said.

The legal opinion, a copy of which has also been sent to the Chief Minister, says that “though it is within the Speaker’s power to adjourn the meeting of House sine-die, but once the business of the meeting is over and nothing remains to be transacted, the meeting cannot be artificially kept alive. Once the business of the House, as specified in the List of Business to be transacted is over, the business of the meeting itself has come to an end,” it reads.

It further says that unless it is evident that some aspect of business specified on the List of Business remained incomplete, there would survive no cause to permit the Speaker to adjourn the meeting, much less adjourn it sine- die. “It is clear from the letter of the Secretary Punjab Vidhan Sabha, dated June 14 that the business of the adjourned meeting summoned was not only not connected with the Budget, but in fact there existed no unfinished agenda which required the meeting.

“The prejudice caused by not proroguing the House and by adjourning it sine-die can be seen from the effect it has had on the Bills passed. At least 4 bills which have no connection with the Budget have been passed. These include–The Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Amendment Bill 2023, The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill,2023 and The Sikh Gurudwara (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023.

Had the House been prorogued after the Budget Session and had these Bills not been rushed through the adjourned meeting, they would have had to wait till the Monsoon session to come up before the House. This would have enabled the Bills to be properly studied and debated before they were enacted into laws. Thus, apart from the patent illegality that these Bills did not concern the Budget and could never be treated as an extension of the Budget Session, the greater flaw in the procedure was that the law was pushed through the legislature without public consultation or debate,”

The Governor, saying that though the CM calls his letters as “love letters”, he would like to remind Mann that he is duty bound to furnish the information sought by the Governor. “Not supplying of the information is a clear violation of the Article 167 of the Constitution. During the debate in the assembly you have taken pot-shots about the Governor, which is not liked by the people as the utterances by the Chief Minister are not befitting to the post. You should also keep in mind that I, as Governor, am a constitutional authority appointed by the President of India and entrusted with duty to ensure a just, fair and honest administration and has to see that the Governance is corruption free.

Since I am receiving various complaints of corruption, I urge upon you to give me the reply at the earliest, without fail,” he has further said.