22 Bills pending with Raj Bhavan over last 12 years: Bengal Speaker

Kolkata, Nov 8 (IANS) As many as 22 important Bills are pending clearance from the Raj Bhavan over the last 12-and-a-half years of Trinamool Congress rule in West Bengal, Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay claimed on Tuesday.

Reacting to the Supreme Court's observations on the delay on the part of the Governors in different states in acting on Bills passed by the respective secretariats, Bandopadhyay gave mediapersons figures relating to the Bills pending clearance from the office of the Governor since 2011.

He suggested that the current Governor, C.V. Ananda Bose, should create a drafting section at Raj Bhavan. 

“This drafting section will be able to scrutinise whether there are legal lapses in the Bills which have been passed on the floor of the Assembly. There are similar committees for scrutinising Bills in the Lok Sabha as well as in the West Bengal Assembly. The task of the committee is to scrutinise the Bills and bring the lapses, if any, to the notice of the authorities concerned,” Bandopadhyay said.

The Speaker also said that if there are some lapses in the Bills pending at the Raj Bhavan, the officer of the Governor can consult with the state advocate general.

According to Bandopadhyay, three Bills that were passed in the first term of the current regime between 2011 and 2016 are still pending clearance at Raj Bhavan. 

Four Bills passed in the second term from 2016 to 2021 have not been received, he claimed, adding that in the third term starting 2021, as 15 Bills are pending clearance from the office of the Governor.

Since 2011, West Bengal has seen five Governors starting with M.K. Narayanan, followed by Keshari Nath Tripathi, Jagdeep Dhankhar, La Ganesan and finally the current Governor, C.V. Ananda Bose. 

The relations between the Governor’s House and the state Secretariat have been especially bitter during the terms of Dhankhar and Bose.

--IANS

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