- The two prorogation Orders signed by the Governor dated Apr 16 & July 13 clearly mention prorogation of First Session & Second (Budget) Session respectively but not the House
- As per Article 174(2)(a) of Constitution of India, it is not the Session but the House which should be prorogued by the Governor--- Hemant Kumar
CHANDIGARH - Finally, the Punjab Governor, Banwarilal Purohit has summoned the third (Special) Session of Punjab Legislative Assembly from Sep 27.
On Sep 21, a controversy erupted owing to sudden withdrawal of an earlier summoning Order by the Governor pertaining to Special Session of Vidhan Sabha just a day after he on Sep 20 signed an Order in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by virtue of Clause (1) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India for summoning the House to meet for its third (Special) Session on 22 Sep.
However, on 21 Sep, the Governor, by issuance of another Order (although Article 174(1) of Constitution not quoted therein) withdrew the earlier Order on summoning by quoting absence of the specific Rules regarding summoning of the Assembly for consideration of the Confidence Motion only by the House.
Amidst all this a debate kick-started in legal and political circles over if indeed the Governor can do so i.e. withdraw his earlier consent granted on summoning the House and that too on his own means in other words, without the recommendation of the State Cabinet (Council of Ministers).
Be that as it may, an Advocate at Punjab and Haryana High Court, Hemant Kumar has once again raised an interesting but serious legal (rather Constitutional) point. He asserts that although it has been over 6 months since current 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha got constituted on 11 March this year and its First Session was convened with effect from March 17 to March 22 which was firstly adjourned by the Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan sine-die & was reconvened to meet again on April 1 after which it was again adjourned sine-die by the Speaker.
Thereafter, the prorogation Order was signed by the Governor under Article 174(2)(a) of the Constitution on April 16. However, the catch is that Order mentioned prorogation of first Session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha and not the House.
Similarly on July 13, an Order signed by the Governor mentions that he prorogues the Second (Budget) session of 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha which was adjourned sine-die by the Speaker at the conclusion of its sitting held on 30 June 2022.
Hemant questions the above two Prorogation Order(s) as signed by the Governor since in both it has been being erroneously mentioned that the Governor hereby prorogues the respective Session(s) of Punjab Vidhan Sabha because actually (read constitutionally) it is not the Session but rather the House which is to be prorogued by the Governor under Article 174 (2)(a) of Constitution of India.
The Advocate explains that prorogation means formal discontinuance of sittings of the House by the State Governor by issuing an Order under Article 174 (2)(a) of Constitution of India that is different from adjourning the House sine-die, which however is ordered by the Speaker at the conclusion of all the Sittings of the House.
Although the House is summoned and prorogued by the Governor under Article 174(1) and Article 174(2)(a) of Constitution of India respectively, in reality such summoning and prorogation is actually decided by the ruling executive ( read the leader of the House i.e. the Chief Minister post approval by Cabinet/Council of Ministers) and thereafter a recommendation is made to the State Governor for issuing the formal Order.
Hemant asserts that even when both Houses of Parliament viz. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are adjourned sine-die by the Speaker and Chairperson of both House(s) respectively, thereafter the President of India in exercise of the powers conferred upon him under Article 85(2)(a) of Constitution of India prorogues the both Houses viz. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and not the Session(s) of both Houses. Similar is the situation in all other States in the country including the neighbouring State of Haryana.
Two months back on July 20, Hemant wrote in this regard to the Punjab Governor, Speaker of Punjab Assembly, Chief Minister, State Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Chief Secretary etc. but unfortunately the above quoted two Prorogation
Orders have not been corrected/ rectified till date which legally (constitutionally) means that as on date the current 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha (House) is not at all prorogued. In other words, there is no literally no need itself for sending any fresh recommendation by the State Government to the Governor for summoning the House under Article 174(1) of Constitution of India.