Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit has reserved three Bills passed by the Punjab Assembly for the consideration of the President.
A statement from the Governor House on Wednesday said “The Hon’ble Governor, Punjab, has reserved the following three bills for the consideration of the Hon’ble President of India as per Article 200 of the Constitution of India”.
The three Bills are The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Notably, the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill aims to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of State-run universities. The Assembly had passed these Bills during the June 19-20 session which the Governor had earlier termed illegal.
The Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, aims at freeing the rights to telecast Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill aims to bring about an independent mechanism for selection of the Director General of Police (Head of the Police Force). As per the current practice, States send names of eligible officers to the Union Public Service Commission. The UPSC suggests names of three officers, from which the state government chooses one.
The tiff between the Governor and the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on various issues has been public for a while now in Punjab. The Chief Minister had on November 24 written to the Governor urging him to give his assent to the pending Bills passed by the Assembly. To this, Mr. Purohit stated that the Bills were under his active consideration and an appropriate decision would be taken expeditiously.
