CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which aims to remove the Governor from the position of chancellor at all 11 state universities, amid a dispute between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab and Governor Banwarilal Purohit. The Chief Minister would take over as Chancellor of state-run universities if the Governor approves the Bill.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has previously supported the bill when it was introduced in the Vidhan Sabha. There was no Congress in the House.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann justified the need for the Bill by stating that "if they could not appoint V-Cs they would be letting down the mandate given by the people." The problem is expected to spark a new dispute between the governor and the executive branch.
The Chief Minister had earlier claimed that the Bill is an exact copy of one from the West Bengal government. The Bill that would be introduced in Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday received approval from the cabinet on Monday.
Governor Banwari Lal Purohit this week sent a letter to Chief Minister Mann in an apparent "tug-of-war" to remind him of the constitutional obligation that had been neglected by the state administration in providing the information he had requested.
The letter states, quoting the pertinent section of the Supreme Court's orders that were issued in response to the state government's petition: "It would be necessary to emphasise that both the Chief Minister and the Governor are constitutional functionaries with specific responsibilities set forth by the Constitution. According to Article 167(b), the Governor is entitled to ask the Chief Minister for information on issues relating to the management of state affairs and legislative proposals. "Once such information is requested, it is the Chief Minister's responsibility to provide it. The Chief Minister's tweet and letter both have unflattering tones and tenor. It said, "Failure to provide the information requested by the Governor would be obviously a breach of the constitutional obligation placed on the Chief Minister under Article 167(b)."
The Governor reminded the Chief Minister that the information requested in his several letters has "yet to be furnished," which the Supreme Court has noted is a breach of the Constitution.
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