Buckling under pressure from Raj Bhawan, the Vidhan Sabha secretariat has sent a CD and transcript of the House proceedings of March 8 where Parliamentary Affairs minister Azam Khan had questioned Governor Ram Naik for not giving his assent on the controversial Nagar Nigam Bill.
Taking strong exceptions to the criticism of the Raj Bhawan, the Governor had sought the `unedited’ copy of the proceedings of the House from Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey on March 9.
A highly placed source in the Raj Bhawan told ‘The Pioneer’ on Thursday that the Speaker’s office has complied with the Governor’s directive and has sent the CD and transcript of the debate of March 8.
“The Raj Bhawan has received the CD and the transcript of the proceedings on Thursday,” the source said Khan had questioned the Governor for delaying in giving his nod to a Bill related to Urban local Bodies. In the Vidhan Sabha on March 9, Khan had alleged, “It is very unfortunate that the Governor is sitting tight on the Bill passed by the House a year and a half back. It seems that the Raj Bhawan is trying to protect the illegal acts of Mayors and was favouring a particular political outfit.”
Khan said that if there were irregularities in the Bill, the Governor should have returned it or sought clarification. “But by sitting on the Bill, the Constitutional head of the state is not doing justice. Instead, he is promoting illegal acts of the Mayors,” the minister had said. Khan’s outburst elicited strong protests from the BJP lawmakers who pointed out that an issue related to the Governor can not be raised in the Assembly.
Reacting to the Khan’s grouse, Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey had said that he would personally convey his feelings to the Governor and assured the BJP members of looking into the statement and expunge parts which were unconstitutional.
The UP Nagar Nigam (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Assembly on March 26, 2015 amid BJP charge that it was a direct assault on the powers of elected Mayors. Nine of the 14 Mayors in Municipal Corporations in UP are from the BJP.
The controversial UP Nagar Nigam (Amendment) Bill 2015, which vests the state government with power to remove Mayors besides curtailing the power of local bodies, was passed in the House last year.
The Bill provides for enhancing the financial powers of chairman of Nagarpalika and Nagar Panchayat to Rs. five lakh and Rs. one lakh respectively, while pegging that of the Mayor at Rs. 15 lakh.
It also provides for the merger of UP Nagar Nigam Act, 1959 and the UP Nagar Palika Act, 1916.
It has provisions for removal of mayor of municipal corporations, and Nagarpalika and Nagar Panchayat chairpersons by the government. The Uttar Pradesh Mayor Council had urged the Governor not to approve the Bill.
Certain other bills pending with the Raj Bhawan include Ram Manohar lohia National law University (Amendment) Bill 2015 and UP Medical Science University, Saifai, Bill 2015.
As per sources, the Governor had expressed reservations over the appointment of Chief Secretary as the President of Ram Manohar lohia National law University and the CM as the Chancellor of Saifai Medical University.