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Punjab assembly session cut short, Mann govt to move SC against governor
It’s unfortunate that a selected governor is resorting to bullying tactics to prevent a democratically elected government from taking pro-people decisions: Mann
The two-day Punjab assembly session was cut short by a day after chief minister Bhagwant Mann informed the House on Friday that since governor Banwarilal Purohit had not given assent to the three money Bills, his government would resume the session after taking the issue to its logical conclusion.
The CM said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government would file a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) on October 30 against the governor’s letter in which he had termed the session illegal. Since the money Bills had not got the governor’s nod, they would not be presented before the House, Mann said during a debate in the assembly. Later in the day, speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan prorogued the House till further orders.
The governor had on Thursday termed the session illegal and withheld his approval to the money Bills, escalating the tussle between him and the CM.
The three Bills were the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023.
This is the second time this year that the Mann government will move the apex court over differences with the governor on summoning the assembly session. In March, the government had approached the SC accusing the governor of not “reverting” to the cabinet’s decision of summoning the budget session
Attacking the governor, the CM said government had proposed to introduce three financial bills for boosting the state’s revenue, but the governor has backstabbed Punjabis by not giving his assent.
“It is unfortunate that a selected governor is resorting to bullying tactics to prevent a democratically elected government from taking pro-people decisions. This highhandedness of the governor will not stand in legal scrutiny and will be outrightly set aside by the apex court,” said Mann, adding that the governor is creating hindrance is the smooth function of government.
Raising the issue of “elected (government) vs selected (governor)”, the CM said the governor is taking Punjabis for granted.
He alleged that non-BJP ruled states such as Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, are also witnessing governor-state government tussles. “Opposition parties should come together on this issue,” the CM said.
“Till this matter is not resolved by the Supreme Court, the state government will not present any Bill in the assembly,” Mann said, adding that government will call the session in the first week of November after approaching the apex court.
“Sometimes, questions are raised why we are giving power subsidy, why we gave bailout to PUNBUS (Punjab Roadways) and sometimes questions are raised about the state’s debt. We will give a reply to all these at the right time,” the CM said referring to governor’s letters.
“But it does not mean the governor will create obstacles in the path of the elected government every day,” Mann added.
