CHANDIGARH: A bill that sought to replace the Punjab governor with the chief minister as the chancellor of state-run universities was recently sent back by President Droupadi Murmu without giving her assent, official sources said on Wednesday.
In 2022, the West Bengal assembly had passed a similar bill at the height of the confrontation between the then governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Sources said the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was sent back last week to Governor Banwarilal Purohit. The status of two other legislations, Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023 sent along with the universities bill to the President is unclear.
In all, four bills, including the one on universities, had been passed by the Punjab Assembly in a two-day session in June last year. It led to a major confrontation with the governor calling the session “patently illegal”. The Supreme Court, however, found it constitutionally valid and directed the governor take his call on the bills.
As for the fourth bill, the governor granted assent to the Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Amendment Bill, 2023, which was aimed at streamlining the functioning of the Punjab Educational Tribunal for aided private colleges.
The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was aimed at ensuring a free-to-air telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple in Amritsar while the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was to pave the way to bring about an independent mechanism for selection and appointment of DGP.
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