Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Friday urged the Governor Banwari Lal Purohit to immediately clear the five bills duly passed by the state legislative assembly, a few months back.

In a letter to the Governor, the Chief Minister said that the five Bills were passed by the Punjab Vidhan
Sabha which are pending with the former for his assent. He said that four of these Bills were passed in the sittings of the budget session held on June 19 and 20 this year. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that in his earlier communications, the Governor had stated that the validity of the special sittings of the Vidhan Sabha, convened by the Speaker in June 2023 was in doubt, which was an impediment for clearing the bills.

However, the Chief Minister said that the issue regarding the sittings of Punjab Vidhan Sabha on
June 19-20 and October 20, 2023 has been held valid by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in its orders pronounced in court on November 10. Therefore, he said that five Bills, which were validly passed by the Vidhan Sabha, are pending for approval with the Governor. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that these bills include The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bil, 2023, The Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) (Amendment) Bil, 2023, The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Punjab State Vigilance Commission (Repeal) Bill, 2022.

The Chief Minister requested the Governor that in keeping with the constitutional obligation and the spirit of democracy as elucidated in the orders dated November 10 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, these bills be cleared forthwith.