Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday called the upcoming two-day session of the state assembly “illegal” and said any business conducted will be “unlawful” and “void”.
The sitting on October 20-21, billed as an extension of the Budget session, was called by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann following the Supreme Court directive on the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.
This is the second time this year that a row between the AAP government and the Raj Nivas has erupted over the summoning of an Assembly sitting.
In a letter to the secretary, Punjab Legislative Assembly, the Governor’s office said, “I have been instructed to draw your attention to the Hon’ble Governor’s letter dated July 24, 2023, which recorded the Governor’s objection to a similar extended session styled as the ‘Special Session of the 4th (budget) of the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha’, called on June 12, for June 19 and 20.”
“Based on legal advice and for reasons stated in the said letter, Governor had pointed out that the calling of such a session was patently illegal, against the accepted procedures and the practice of the legislature, and against the provisions of the Constitution,” it stated.
“In view of the reasons stated in dated 24th July, any such extended session is bound to be illegal, and any business conducted during such sessions is unlawful, and ab-ínitio void…,” the letter said.
Official sources said the session has been called to approve changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as required by the Centre and setting up of an appellate tribunal with its principal bench in Delhi.
The state government may also hold a discussion on the M S Swaminathan report on agriculture and bring a resolution on the SYL canal issue which has created a political uproar in Punjab after the Supreme Court’s direction for survey of the land allocated for construction of part of the canal, a decision seen as a ‘setback’ for Punjab and ‘victory’ for Haryana.
A senior Punjab government official said since the government had not got the Budget session prorogued by the Governor, his approval is not required to call a fresh sitting of the assembly and the Speaker is competent to convene it.
The Aam Aadmi Party government has been facing flak from the opposition for alleged failure to put up Punjab’s case effectively to get a favorable decision from the apex court on the SYL issue, which has been a bone of contention between the neighbouring states for the past several years.