Constitution needs to be amended to set specific time for Guv to clear Bills: State Assembly Speaker

Kolkata: Speaker of West Bengal Legislative Assembly Biman Banerjee on Wednesday advocated for an amendment in the Constitution so that a time frame can be fixed in connection with dealing of Bills by the Governor after they are passed in the Assembly.

“The Governor has three options after passing of Bills in the state Assembly. He should give assent to the Bill, seek clarification if any, or refer it to the President of India. But in Bengal it was noticed that a number of Bills are kept pending for years without assigning any reason for such delay. This is not desirable. I feel the Constitution should be amended to set a time frame for the Governor relating to clearance of Bills. After a certain period of time, if it is found that the Governor is sitting on a particular Bill, it should be construed that the same has been passed,” Banerjee said while inaugurating a workshop for the employees of the Assembly Secretariat conducted by the PRS Legislative Research.

State Parliamentary Affairs minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay endorsed the views expressed by the Speaker and said there is no logic behind sitting on Bills for an indefinite period of time. “The Bills are usually passed for the welfare of the people so having a time frame is necessary,” Chattopadhyay said.

Chakshu Roy, head of outreach of PRS Legislative Research said that legislature secretariats are important institutions that are often overlooked, though a lot of important work on health, education happens in the legislature. “Members of the legislature have a tenure of five years but employees of legislatures stay longer. Hence, sharing the experiences of other legislatures will strengthen the knowledge of such employees,” he added.

The day-long workshop with interactive sessions dealt with best practices of state legislatures as well as the Indian Parliament and was a good learning experience for the employees of the assembly secretariat.