Bengal Guv refutes claims of Speaker’s comments at national meet

Kolkata, Sep 27 (IANS) The office of the West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, on Friday refuted the recent comments made by Speaker Biman Banerjee at the recently held India Region Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in New Delhi where the latter reportedly expressed ‘frustration over the hindrance in Bengal’s development due to the non-cooperation of the Raj Bhavan’.

“What is the basis of this astounding contention? The reasons for making such a baseless comment could be several; including compulsions from various quarters. However, it is advised that functionaries holding high offices should exercise discretion while falsely implicating a Constitutional office in an untruthful and politically motivated narrative.” the statement read.

It said that time and again reports have appeared in the public domain containing allegations of Bills supposedly pending in Raj Bhavan and attributing motives to the establishment.

“Such unfounded and motivated allegations have been refuted by Raj Bhavan by providing factual statements about the status of the Bills. Neither the present incumbent of Raj Bhavan nor the previous ones have ever kept any Bill pending,” the statement read.

The office of the Governor has also raised objections to the reports that the Speaker had“specifically mentioned the Aparajita Act, a law intended to impose stringent punishments on criminals, which is also awaiting approval and may not see positive action from the Raj Bhavan.

As per the state from the Governor’s office, the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024 passed in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly was sent to Raj Bhavan on the evening of September 9 and placed before the office of the Governor the next day.

“The Technical Report is necessary for taking a decision on the Bill. Further, till the signing of the Bill on 06.09.2024 reserving it for the kind consideration of Hon’ble Rashtrapati, the mandatory Assembly debates and their English translation were not received from the Assembly Secretariat. Those were received only on the evening of 11.09.2024. However, taking note of the urgency of the matter the Bill was reserved for Hon’ble Rashtrapati even without having the opportunity to go through the Assembly debates on the Bill. The Bill was cleared by HG for Hon’ble Rashtrapati’s kind consideration on 06.09.2024, even before the mandatory Assembly debates arrived,” the statement read.