The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to remove the Governor, Shri.Banwarilal Purohit as the Chancellor of state-run universities with the Chief MInister of the State.
- The Governor of Punjab has reserved three pending Bills for the President’s consideration ie.
- The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023: It has been Returned to the government for reconsideration by the President’s Office
- The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023: It is aimed at opening up the rights to telecast Gurbani.
- The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023: It seeks to bring an independent mechanism for the selection and appointment to the post of the police chief.
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About the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023
- The Bill was introduced in the Punjab Legislative Assembly on June 20, 2023.
- Amendment: It amends acts establishing 12 state universities such as, The Punjabi University Act, 1961, The I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical University Act, 1996, (iii) the Shaheed Bhagat Singh State University Act, 2021 etc
- Aim: The bill seeks to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as the Ex-Officio Chancellor of State Universities and requires the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor to be as per the advice or recommendation of the state government.
- Present Status: The Supreme Court in its ruling based on a petition filed by the Punjab government against its Governor’s action to hold back crucial Bills stated that, the Governor cannot withhold his assent to a bill for an indefinite period and has to take actions on a bill with respect to Article 200 of the constitution.
- The Punjab Governor thus Reserved the bill for President’s Consideration.
- The President has Returned the bill for Reconsideration.
State University Chancellors
- State public universities are established through laws passed by state legislatures and in most cases The Governor has been designated as the Ex-Officio Chancellor of these universities.
- Function of Chancellor:
- Head: He acts as the head of public universities, and appoints individuals to other administrative positions such as the Vice-Chancellor.
- The Chancellor can declare invalid, any university proceeding which is not as per existing laws.
- Policy Related Matters: The Chancellor presides over the meetings of University bodies such as The Court/Senate, which decides on matters of general policy related to the development of the university like,
- Establishing new university departments, conferring and withdrawing degrees and titles, and instituting fellowship.
- Inspection: In some states (such as Bihar, Gujarat, and Jharkhand), the Chancellor has the power to conduct inspections in the university.
- Presides over: The Chancellor also presides over the convocation of the university, and confirms proposals for conferring honorary degrees.
Governors as Chancellor
- The Governor is not legally bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, while discharging duties of a separate statutory office (such as the Chancellor), as stated by The Supreme Court in its 1997 ruling.
- The Sarkaria Commission: It recommended that state legislatures should avoid conferring statutory powers on the Governor, which were not envisaged by the Constitution, but if it does, it will be advantageous for the smooth governance that the Governor consults the State Government before taking any decisions.
- The Punchhi Commission: It observed that the role of Governor as the Chancellor may expose the office to controversies or public criticism and thus should be restricted to constitutional provisions only.
- The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 also mentions this recommendation given by the Punchhi Commission
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Indian States v/s Governors over Appointments in Universities in Recent Times
Recently, some states have taken steps to reduce the oversight of the Governor in state public universities.
- West Bengal: The West Bengal government passed a Bill to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister, as the Chancellor of 31 state public universities in June 2022.
- Tamil Nadu: The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has passed two Bills, to transfer the power of appointing the Vice-Chancellor (in public universities) from the Governor, to the state government in April 2022.
- These Bills are reserved for the consideration of the President
- Maharashtra: The State amended the process to appoint the Vice Chancellor of state public universities in 2021, mandating the Search Committee to first forward the panel of names to the state government, which would recommend a panel of two names to the Chancellor.
- The Chancellor must appoint one of the two names from the panel within thirty days with no option of asking for a fresh panel of names to be recommended.
Veto Powers of President
Veto Power of the President of India is guided by Article 111 of the Indian Constitution conferring Three types of Veto power ie. (Absolute, Qualified and Pocket) on the Indian President
- Absolute Veto: The President simply withholds and rejects their assent to the bill. The bill then ends and does not become an act.
- It is exercised in the cases concerning private members’ bills and Concerning the government bills when the cabinet resigns and the new cabinet advises the President not to give his assent to such bills.
- Suspensive Veto: The President exercises this veto when he/she returns a bill for reconsideration of the Parliament.
- However, if the bill is passed again by the Parliament with or without amendments and again presented to the President, the President must give his assent to the bill.
- The President does not possess this veto in the case of money bills.
- Pocket Veto: The President neither ratifies or rejects nor returns the bill, but simply keeps the bill pending for an indefinite period.
- The President can exercise this veto power as the Constitution does not prescribe any time-limit within which he has to take the decision with respect to a bill presented to him for his assent.
- No Veto Power: In respect of the Constitutional Amendment Bill as 24th CAA, 1971 made it obligatory for the president to give his assent to a Constitutional Amendment Bill.
Presidential Veto over State Legislation
- Article 201: It is when the State bill is reserved by the Governor for consideration of the President, the President has three alternatives,
- They may give his assent to the bill.
- They may withhold his assent to the bill, the bill then ends.
- They may return the bill for reconsideration of the House or Houses of the state legislature.
- When a bill is returned, the House or Houses have to reconsider it within six months.
- Pocket Veto: The President enjoys Pocket Veto in case the State Government sends the reconsidered bill for their assent with or without amendments. The president is thus not bound to give his assent to the bill, unlike in the case of Parliamentary Bills.
- Money bill: The president can reject the money bill of the state legislature, However, He can not return the money bill to the state legislature.
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Role Of President in Universities:
- The President of India shall be the Visitor of the Central University, as per the Central Universities Act, 2009.
- Appointment: The President in his capacity as a Visitor appoints Chancellors (Vice President) and Vice Chancellors (from panels of names picked by search and selection committees formed by the Union government) to review the work and progress of the University, including Colleges and Institutions managed by it.
- Inspection and Inquiries: The President, as the Visitor, is empowered to authorise inspections of academic and non-academic aspects of the universities and also to institute inquiries.
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July 18, 2024
