Senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik on Monday blamed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the impasse created over return of the Odisha Police Bill by the Governor.
In a statement Patnaik said MlAs should have been given opportunity to deliberate on the Bill before passing as they have a role in law making.
“The Bill was passed in the Assembly in just 20 to 30 minutes in absence of the Opposition. The MlAs should have been allowed to deliberate and give the people a law that would benefit society and can stand subsequent judicial review. legislative procedure cannot be made a farce,” said Patnaik.
Patnaik said he had opposed the Bill in December 2013 immediately after the Bill was first introduced in the state assembly. “I had then demanded the Bill be sent to a select committee of the State Assembly, which is the laid down procedure for dealing with complex legislations. But, the Government was adamant in ignoring sane advice and got the bill passed in the Assembly displaying contempt for criticisms to the Bill and in the absence of opposition MlAs,” he said.
He praised leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra for spearheading the opposition to the Bill and expressed hopes that the Government will listen to the voices of different sections of society including political parties, civil society organizations.
“If the Bill is passed again without listening to the advice of the Governor will be an act of extreme arrogance and disrespect to the highest constitutional office in the State,” contended Patnaik.