Row over bills: What is happening in Punjab is matter of serious concern, says SC
New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday termed the deadlock between Punjab government and its governor over assent to bills passed by the assembly a matter of "serious concern" and said it is not happy with what is happening in the state.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra told both the Punjab government and the governor, "Our country has been running on established traditions and conventions and they need to be followed."
It pulled up the Punjab governor for not giving assent to bills passed by the state assembly saying "you are playing by fire" and questioned his power to term the assembly session as unconstitutional.
The bench also questioned the Punjab government on why it adjourned and not prorogue the budget session of its assembly. Democracy has to work in the hands of the Chief Minister and in the hands of the governor, it said, adding that it will pass a short order to settle the law on the issue of governor's power to give assent to bills.
On November 6, the top court had said that state governors must not be oblivious to the fact that they are not elected representatives of the people.
It voiced its concern over Raj Bhavans not acting on bills passed by the state legislatures, and directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to place on record the details of action taken by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on the bills cleared by the assembly.
The Punjab government had earlier moved the top court alleging delay in Governor Banwarilal Purohit's giving assent to bills passed by the state assembly.
The plea said such "unconstitutional inaction" has brought the entire administration to a "grinding halt."
It said the governor cannot indefinitely sit on the bills as he has restricted powers under Article 200 of the Constitution, which deals with the Raj Bhavan occupant's power to give or withhold assent to a bill or reserve a bill for the president's consideration.
The Punjab governor is involved in a long-running feud with the Aam Aadmi Party government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
