TN Special Assembly session on Nov 18 to again pass Bills returned by Governor

Chennai, Nov 16 (IANS) A special session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly will be convened on November 18 to pass the Bills returned by Governor R. N. Ravi, it was announced on Thursday.

Assembly Speaker M. Appavu said announced that the special session will be held from 10 a.m. on Saturday to pass the Bills returned by the Governor.

The decision was taken after the Governor returned Bills pending with him for his approval.

The DMK government had accused the BJP-appointed Governor of deliberately delaying the bills’ clearance and scuttling the state’s development by “undermining the elected administration”.

It had also approached the Supreme Court over the delay on the part of the Governor in granting assent to bills.

During the last hearing, the Supreme Court had observed that it was a matter of serious concern that the Governor was sitting on various Bills and other important documents sent to him by the government.

The Governor is said to have returned 10 Bills out of 12 Bills pending with him. One of the Bills is aimed at clipping the Governor’s authority to appoint Vice Chancellors of state-run universities. There is another Bill seeking prosecution of ex-ministers from the AIADMK.

After the Assembly passes these Bills again, it will become mandatory for the Governor to give his assent.

Speaking to media persons in Tiruvannamalai, Appavu said that a special session will be held under Assembly Rules 26.

“As I have learnt that many legislative Bills have been returned by the Governor, the state government wanted to pass these Bills again after discussions, at a special session in the Assembly,” he said.

Replying to a query about the Supreme Court’s recent observation, Appavu said that the special session has been convened only to pass the Bills again and not to discuss the apex court’s observation or any other issue.

The Speaker mentioned that the special law against online rummy and the Bill against NEET were returned in the first instance by the Governor. However, after these laws were passed again in the Assembly, the Governor either approved them (in the case of online gambling) or sent them to the President for approval (Bill against NEET).

“As per the law, the Governor cannot return those Bills that are passed once more in the Assembly. Only those Bills that have been returned by the Governor will be passed again in this special session,” he said.

–IANS

ms/vd