2024-07-21 13:16:08
Chandigarh: President Draupadi Murmu has refused to give assent to a bill that appoints the chief minister in place of the governor as chancellor of Punjab universities. The bill was passed by the Punjab Assembly in June last year. The matter began when Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit objected to the procedure followed in the appointment of VCs of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). Following this, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government introduced the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which proposed to appoint the chief minister in place of the governor as chancellor of state universities.
Three bills were sent to the President
In December 2023, Governor Purohit had sent three bills to President Draupadi Murmu. This bill was also among them. The other two bills were the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023. Under Article 200 of the Constitution, a bill passed by the state assembly is presented for the assent of the governor. Who can approve it, withhold assent or reserve it for the President’s consideration.
Congress said the President’s decision was correct
In November 2023, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had written a letter to the Governor requesting him to give his assent to the pending bills passed by the Assembly at the earliest. In response, the Governor had said that these are under his active consideration and an appropriate decision will be taken soon as per the law and keeping in mind the recent Supreme Court verdict. Reacting to the President’s decision, Congress leader Raj Kumar Verka termed the AAP government’s move to remove the Governor and make the Chief Minister the Chancellor of state universities as unconstitutional. Verka said that the President has taken the right decision.