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Business Standard
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
State legislatures are in a rush, spend little time in scrutinising Bills
A landmark Supreme Court judgment in April set a timeline for state Governors to decide on Bills sent to them by legislatures, mandating a response within specific timelines. Last week, President Droupadi Murmu, in a rare move, asked the court whether it can fix timelines for Governors and the President to clear state Bills under Article 201 of the Constitution. The court's judgment came amid concerns about Governors sitting on legislation and stalling state governments. But if Governors are being blamed for delaying Bills, most state legislatures are in a rush. Many of them have truncated debates, rushed Budget approvals and little scrutiny of critical financial allocations. Last year, almost three out of every four state legislatures wrapped up Budget and ministry expenditure discussions in just 10 days. As many as 46.4 per cent of states completed deliberations in two to five days, according to calculations by PRS Legislative Research and 'Business Standard'. As many as 35.7 per cent completed deliberations in six to 10 days. Only 7.2 per cent extended the process to 11-15 days, while 10.7 per cent went beyond 16 days. Kerala and Goa stood out for spending 18 days to discuss their Budgets, followed by Odisha (16), Gujarat (14), and Rajasthan (13). Six states, including Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana, discussed and passed their Budgets in just two days. The rush is greater in reviewing ministry-wise expenditure — arguably one of the most vital aspects of Budget scrutiny. In 21 states, the time gap between the general Budget and ministry-specific discussions was just one day. Only two states took two to five days and three states more than five days. Compare that to Parliament, where the Budget session is split for three to four weeks to allow Parliamentary Standing Committees to examine the expenditure proposals of Ministries in detail. After a Bill is passed by a legislature, it is sent to the Governor, who can grant assent, return it for reconsideration, or reserve it for the President. The Constitution says that the Governor must act "as soon as possible" but delays are frequent and vary widely across states. According to the Annual Review of State Laws 2024 by PRS Legislative Research, 60 per cent of Bills passed by state legislatures in 2024 received gubernatorial assent within a month. As many 18 per cent took more than three months, including Bills still pending as of April 2025. While Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Mizoram, and Rajasthan ensured that all their Bills were cleared by Governors within a month, other states experienced significant lags. Himachal Pradesh had 72 per cent of its Bills delayed by more than three months, followed by Sikkim (56 per cent) and West Bengal (38 per cent). Tamil Nadu, where the Governor and the state government have clashed several times, saw 60 per cent of Bills receive assent within a month. Another 18 per cent took one to three months and 22 per cent were delayed by more than three months.
Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Delhi Assembly just passed a single Bill in all of 2024: Report
The Delhi Assembly passed only a single Bill in 2024 — the least number of Bills passed by any state or union territory Assembly in India. This finding is from a report released on Monday by non-profit organisation PRS Legislative Research on the functioning of state legislatures. Delhi only passed one Bill — The Delhi Goods and Services Tax (Third Amendment) Act, 2024 — while states, on average, passed 17 Bills throughout the year. This GST Bill was also passed on the same day it was introduced in the Assembly, making Delhi one of the eight states that passed all Bills on the same day they were introduced into the Assembly. The seven other states were Bihar, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. In 2024, 62 out of the 70 legislators in the Delhi Assembly were from the AAP, and the remaining eight were from the BJP. The report, titled Annual Review of State Laws 2024, also points out that last year, the national capital's Assembly session, along with Tamil Nadu's, lasted the longest without the session being prorogued. Proroguing refers to ending a session of the Assembly. Delhi's Assembly session continued from February to December last year. The Delhi Assembly met for 25 days in 2024, higher than the national average of 20. Odisha met for the highest number of days (42), followed by Kerala (38). The average sitting days of Assemblies across the country also fell from a high of 28 in 2017 to 20 in 2024. As per the report, Delhi's amendment to the GST Bill was among 60% of Bills across the country that received the Governor's assent within a month. Of the Bills passed in 2024, 18% got assent after more than three months (this includes Bills awaiting assent as of April 2025). States where a high proportion of Bills got assent after more than three months include Himachal Pradesh (72% of Bills passed), Sikkim (56%) and West Bengal (38%). Devansh Mittal is a trainee correspondent with The Indian Express. He studied political science at Ashoka University. He can be reached at ... Read More
