Governor has no authority to summon officers to discuss pending Bills: Bengal minister
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Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said the governor does not have any authority to summon officers to discuss pending Bills.
Chattopadhyay's statement on Thursday came after Governor C.V. Ananda Bose said he has sought meetings with officers of different departments before approving some Bills that are pending with him.
"The Constitution clearly states that the governor does not have the power to indefinitely hold back Bills. If there are legal concerns with a Bill, the governor may write to the government. But nowhere does the Constitution say he can summon officials or hold discussions. I have read the Constitution many times," the minister said.
Following a Supreme Court verdict on the matter, Speaker Biman Banerjee said 23 Bills passed by the West Bengal Assembly since 2016 have not received the governor's assent.
In a major victory for the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government, the apex court on Tuesday cleared 10 Bills that were stalled and reserved by Governor R.N. Ravi for the President's consideration, and also set a timeline for all governors to act on the Bills passed by state assemblies.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin hailed the verdict as a "victory for all Indian states".
Echoing similar sentiments, Speaker Banerjee hoped that the West Bengal governor would follow suit.
In a statement, the Raj Bhavan said the governor had sent 11 Bills -- 10 related to state universities and the Aparajita Bill -- for consideration by the President between 2024 and 2025.
The Raj Bhavan also said that it has sought additional information from the state government on several other Bills, and claimed that appropriate responses have not been received.
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Informing Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor was a crime: Rahul Gandhi on Jaishankar's 'admission'
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the government for "informing" Pakistan about targeting terror infrastructure as part of Operation Sindoor, saying it was a crime and asking who had authorised it.
In a post on X, Gandhi questioned External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for publicly admitting that the government of India (GOI) had informed Pakistan of the action and asked how many aircraft the Indian Air Force lost as a result.
"Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?" said Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He also shared an undated video of Jaishankar saying India had informed Pakistan of the action against terror infrastructure on its soil.
Jaishankar can be heard saying in the video, "At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan, saying, 'We are striking at terrorist infrastructure and we are not striking at the military.'"
"So the military has the option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice," the minister can be heard saying in the clip.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB), however, has debunked claims that Jaishankar had said India informed Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor. In a post on X, the PIB's Fact Check Unit said the minister had not made any such statement and that he was being misquoted.
Operation Sindoor was the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2025
EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it.
1. Who authorised it?
2. How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result? pic.twitter.com/KmawLLf4yW
