Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit
Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Chandigarh, December 6
In a new twist to differences between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and the state government, Purohit today reserved three Bills passed by the Vidhan Sabha earlier this year for President Droupadi Murmu’s consideration.
Passed in the June Assembly session, the Bills were the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
According to a communication from the Governor’s house, the Bills have been reserved as per Article 200 of the Constitution, which “outlines the process for a Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly of a state to be presented to the Governor for assent, who may either assent, withhold assent or reserve the Bill for consideration by the President”. Article 201 provides that “when a Bill is reserved by a Governor for the consideration of the President, the latter shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom.”
The Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill provides for free-to-air telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Passed as an amendment to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, the Bill attempts to check monopoly.
The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, is an amendment to the Punjab Police Act, 2007. It provides for an independent selection process for appointment of the DGP. The Bill mandates the state government to appoint the DGP from a panel of three senior officers eligible on the basis of length of service, work record and range of experience. As per the current rules, the UPSC clears the names and sends these to the state.
The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, provides for designating the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of all state universities instead of the current provision of the Governor being the Chancellor.
Differences had cropped up between CM Bhagwant Mann and Purohit over the appointment of VCs of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (Faridkot) and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.
In October, the government had moved the SC when the Governor did not give his nod to the Bills passed by the Assembly. On SC’s intervention, Purohit had in November cleared the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility & Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Passed by House in June session
- The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023
- The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023
- The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023
Governor interfering with govt’s rights
The Governor is interfering with the rights of the government. We will explore all legal options. — Malwinder Kang, AAP spokesperson
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