Chandigarh (TIP)- After the tussle between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reached the Supreme Court, the former on Thursday prorogued the Budget Session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. Governor Purohit has also given his consent to the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill (FRBM), 2023. The Bill is to be presented in the Winter Session of the Vidhan Sabha, which is proposed to be held in the last week of November.
With this, all three money Bills that the government wanted to be tabled in the Vidhan Sabha have been given the nod by the Governor. The other two money Bills — The Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 — were given the nod on October 31.
However, no decision has been taken on the four Bills passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in its two-day special sitting held on June 19-20. These Bills include the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023; and the Punjab Affiliated Colleges Amendment Bill, 2023. Though the Governor had termed the special sitting of the Vidhan Sabha in June invalid, the apex court, on November 10, had declared the sitting as valid and asked the Governor to decide on the fate of these Bills. It may be mentioned that the Punjab Government had approached the Supreme Court last month against the decision of the Governor declaring the October 20 special sitting as invalid and his refusal to give consent to the Money Bills.
The Governor had been objecting to the extension of the session after its adjournment and convening special sittings of the House without getting it prorogued. Source: TNS