Punjab Governor reminds CM of dereliction of constitutional duty

Chandigarh, June 13 Prompted by "indifference" of the state government in furnishing information sought by him, Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit has written a letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reminding him of the dereliction of constitutional duty.

Quoting the relevant portion of orders of the Supreme Court which were passed on the petition of the state government, the letter reads: "It would be necessary to underscore that both the Chief Minister and the Governor are constitutional functionaries who have specified roles and obligations earmarked by the Constitution. The Governor has a right to seek information from the Chief Minister in terms of Article 167 (b) on matters relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation."

"Once such information is sought, the Chief Minister is duty bound to furnish it. The tones and tenor of the tweet and the letter by the Chief Minister leave much to be desired. Not furnishing the information which was sought by the Governor would be plainly in dereliction of the constitutional duty which is imposed on the Chief Minister in terms of Article 167 (b)," it added.

The Governor reminded the Chief Minister that the information sought through his various letters is "yet to be furnished", which is dereliction of constitutional duty as observed by the Supreme Court.

The Chief Minister shared a post on his twitter handle on Monday, claiming the Governor used "my government" in his address in the Budget Session of Punjab Assembly after being reminded by him.

To this, the Governor wrote that he "instantly accepted the suggestion, while delivering the speech itself" whereas the Chief Minister has been indifferent to the orders of the Supreme Court which were passed about four months ago.

Citing a video recording, the Chief Minister said the Governor had started his speech with "my government" but however when a hue and cry was made by opposition without any logic, he preferred to use the word "government" only.

Mann said that, however, when he reminded the Governor about the judgement given by the Supreme Court, he changed his stance and used "my government" only.

He said the video recording from the records of Punjab Vidhan Sabha is a proof that the Governor is having a "hostile approach" towards the elected state government.

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