SC seeks Centre's response on presidential inaction over Punjab Bills on Gurudwaras, DGP selection mechanism
Supreme Court
's opinion SC's power to fix timelines for the constitutional heads on Bills passed by Assemblies, the apex court on Tuesday sought the Centre's response to a petition by Punjab govt alleging presidential inaction on its two Bills relating to Gurudwaras and selection of DGP.
A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran issued notice to the Union govt after senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the Punjab govt, complained that two Bills passed by Assembly two years back - The Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023 – have been kept in limbo by the President after the Governor arbitrarily referred these to her.
In its writ petition under Article 32 of the petition which entitles anyone to move the SC directly for violation of his/her fundamental right, the Bhagwant Singh Mann govt through advocate Nupur Kumar said it challenged 'first, the Governor's referral of two bills to the President of India for her consideration in contravention to the aid and advice of the council of ministers in the absence of any constitutional trigger or any extraordinary breakdown of democratic governance.
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It also challenged 'the President's simpliciter inaction to act on both the bills without granting assent, or withholding assent, which must be accompanied by furnishing reasons for such withholding' as was ruled by the SC in its Apr 8 judgment, which had triggered the President send a Reference to the apex court for its opinion on the power of the SC in laying down timeline, which is not prescribed by Constitution, for the President and Governors.
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The Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to mandates the Board constituted under the Sikh Gurudwaras Act, 1925, to propagate teachings of the Gurus by making uninterrupted live feed of the holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib available to all media houses, platforms, channels, etc., free of cost and restrains anyone broadcasting the Holy Gurbani from telecasting any advertisement 30 minutes prior to and after the broadcast.
The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to amend the Punjab Police Act, 2007, to create an independent mechanism for selection and appointment of suitable persons to the post of Director General of Police (DGP). The state said the amendment would free the selection from political or executive interference, while keeping in view the peculiar conditions in Punjab.
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