Ozi Indian
Chandigarh, October 19
Calling the two-day Assembly session beginning tomorrow patently illegal, Governor of Punjab Banwarilal Purohit today withheld the approval to three Bills to be tabled on the floor of the House during the session. The Governor threatened that if the government continued with ‘the patently illegal session’, he may report the matter to the President.
In a letter written to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Purohit said three money Bills had been forwarded to him for his approval for presentation in the special session of the 4th budget session of the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha from October 20.
In spite of these communications, disregarding the possibility of taking an unconstitutional step, it appears that a decision has been taken to call the session. “For these reasons I withhold my approval to the above mentioned Bills.”
“I have to point out that instead of continuing on this precarious course, you may choose a legally correct alternative of calling a fresh monsoon/winter session. I strongly suggest you take recourse to this,” said the Governor.
He further said if it was the desire of the government to hold an Assembly session, it would be proper and fitting to draw up and forward an agenda or programme setting out the specific business to be conducted, including the Bills to be passed, with a request that a monsoon/winter session be summoned to transact the said business. “Once this is done, permission would be granted for the same.”
