Punjab governor gives assent to two bills after AAP govt moves Supreme Court against him

At loggerheads with the AAP government for the past few months, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit has given his approval to two of the three bills sent to him, days after the state government moved the Supreme Court against him over the issue.

The development comes after Purohit, in his October 29 letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, said that he would examine all the bills on merit in the larger interest of the welfare of people of the state. His communication to Mann had come as the AAP government moved the Supreme Court against him for withholding his nod to the bills. The governor’s approval is needed to table money bills in the Vidhan Sabha.

Interestingly, Purohit’s move has come at a time when the governments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala too have moved the Supreme Court against the state governors, alleging a delay by them in giving assent to the bills passed by the respective state Assemblies.

The governor has approved the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023, official sources said on Wednesday. The first bill aims to pave the way for setting up a GST appellate tribunal and imposition of goods and services tax on online gaming. The second bill provides for levying stamp duty on mortgaging property. However, the third bill, The Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, has still not been cleared.

The assent given to these bills seems to be a well thought-out strategy to finish off the “cause of action” before the petition against the governor comes up for hearing in the apex court on Friday (November 3).

Were to be tabled in House

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 were to be tabled in the House during the October 20-21 Vidhan Sabha session.

However, the governor in his letter to the chief minister on October 19, withheld his approval to these three money bills. Purohit had stated that the October 20-21 session -- which was projected as an extension of the Budget Session -- was “bound to be illegal” and any business conducted during it “unlawful”.

The Punjab government had subsequently cut short its two-day session. Chief Minister Mann had then announced to move the Supreme Court against the governor for withholding his approval to the three bills which were slated to be tabled in the House.

Four other bills -- the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Amendment Bill, 2023, are awaiting the governor’s assent. These bills were passed during the June 19-20 session of the assembly, which the governor had termed “patently illegal”.

Not the first time

This is not the first time the AAP government has approached the Supreme Court against the governor. The Punjab government had earlier moved the Supreme Court, accusing the governor of not “reverting” to the cabinet’s decision of summoning the Budget Session in March.

Later, Purohit told the Supreme Court that he has summoned the assembly for the budget session on March 3 even as the top court told both sides that constitutional discourse has to be conducted with a sense of decorum and mature statesmanship. The court, which was hearing the state government's plea against the governor’s alleged “refusal” to summon the Budget Session for March 3, said the Punjab government is duty-bound to furnish information as sought by the governor and at the same time the governor is also duty-bound to accept the recommendations of Cabinet on the convening of assembly.

In August, Purohit had threatened Chief Minister Mann of recommending imposition of the President’s rule in the state, if the latter didn’t respond to his letters. A month later, he had shot off a missive to the chief minister, seeking information on the increase in the state’s debt by Rs 50,000 crore during the 18 months of AAP regime in Punjab.

(With agency inputs)