President Droupadi Murmu has declined to give her ascent to a bill passed in the Bengal Assembly that proposes to make the chief minister the chancellor of state-aided universities, replacing the governor, an education department official said on Monday.
The governor, who is the ex-officio chancellor of state-aided universities, sent the bill for the President's ascent on April 20, 2024, after allegedly sitting on it for two years.
A Raj Bhavan official stated that last week, the President’s office informed Raj Bhavan that the President has declined to give her ascent to the bill passed in the Bengal Assembly in June 2022.
An education department official stated that since the President has not consented to the bill, they are seeking legal opinion on what to do next.
“Usually, after a bill is passed in the Assembly, it is sent to the governor for his approval, enabling the bill to turn into an Act. If the governor does not want to sign the bill, he can send the bill back to the state cabinet for reconsideration or can send it to the President for his or her opinion,” said an education department official.
“In this case, the bill was sent to the President, who declined to give her ascent. We are taking legal opinion,” the official said.
On June 11, 2022, the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was introduced in the House by education minister Bratya Basu. It received 167 votes in favour. Fifty-five BJP MLAs voted against the bill.
Former Supreme Court judge Rohinton Fali Nariman, speaking at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) on September 19, explained that Article 200 of the Constitution outlines three options available to a governor on bills passed by the state legislature: assent, return for reconsideration, or send to the President.
“There is no fourth option for a governor or a President to sit on the bills. If you really wait out the bills, you will be thwarting the entire legislative exercise,” he had said during a memorial lecture.
An education department official stated that they could move the Supreme Court.
The Bengal government earlier accused the governor of not approving the Aparajita Bill passed by the Assembly following the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August 2024.
Governor Bose did not grant assent and instead referred it to the President.
In February, a delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs met the President, urging prompt approval of the bill.
In July, the Union home ministry objected to the bill, citing changes to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The governor has sent the bill back to the state for reconsideration in light of objections raised by the ministry.