Our Bureau
New Delhi
This Tuesday, on July 29th, the Supreme Court has sought a response from the Central Government to a petition filed by the Punjab government. The petition by the state government questions the long delay of more than a year by the President on clearance of the two bills relating to Gurudwaras and selection of DGP.
The Supreme Court consisting of a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran have issued a notice to the union government regarding the delay. Arvind Datar, the senior advocate who was representing the Punjab Government complaining about the two bills that were passed by the state assembly two years ago but were kept on hold by the President after the Governor arbitrarily referred these to her. The two bills they were complaining about were The Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The Bhagwant Singh Mann govt through advocate Nupur Kumar stated that it challenges first, the Governor’s referral of two bills to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu. for her consideration in contravention to the aid and advice of the council of ministers in the absence of any extraordinary breakdown of democratic governance.
They have also pointed out to the judgement given by the SC on April 8th and challenged the President’s simpliciter inaction to act on both the bills without granting assent, or withholding assent, which must be accompanied by furnishing reasons for such withholding.
The Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is looking to propagate the teachings of Sikh Gurus through uninterrupted live feed of the holy Gurbani from Sri Harmandir Sahib totally free of cost with no ads before and after the broadcast of the holy Gurbani to all media houses.
On the other hand, The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to establish an independent mechanism that will be used for the selection and appointment of suitable personnel to the post of Director General of Police (DGP).
