Haryana assembly to introduce bills received 5 days in advance from govt
CHANDIGARH: Haryana Vidhan Sabha is set to introduce a system under which the state government will have to send Bills to the assembly secretariat five days before introducing them in the House for discussion, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Tuesday while firmly backing the move.
If this proposal is implemented in letter and spirit, it will help the 90 MLAS in the state to read the draft of the proposed law in advance and hold a meaningful debate when the Bill is introduced in the House.
Most of the Bills, important or otherwise, are often given to the MLAS minutes before they are taken up for discussion. And a section of the legislators concerned of the ruling as well as opposition parties have always raised voices against this practice of passing the bills in a jiffy.
The primary function of the legislature is to make laws. The state government brings in Bills for discussion in the House and it becomes a law after being passed by the majority of the members present in the House and after the assent of the governor or the President.
“The Bills are printed the night before the assembly session for discussion in the House. They are printed overnight… and in the morning the Bill is circulated among the members. At 11am the Bill is introduced and passed. Let’s change this. The spirit of democracy lies in discussion,” Khattar said during the inaugural session of the two-day orientation programme being held at Haryana Vidhan Sabha to train the legislators about the assembly rules.
In the 90-member Haryana Vidhan Sabha, there are 44 firsttime legislators. As many as 46 MLAS have won assembly elections more than once. The 14th Vidhan Sabha was constituted in November last year after the BJP and JJP formed the coalition government in the wake of hung house.
Khattar said during the assembly sessions, the members consume most of the time in discussing civic issues. “This is not the primary responsibility of the legislature even if it is an important matter,” Khattar
The MLAS don’t get the Bills on time. Once the Bill is introduced, it is passed without debate. Let’s change this
MANOHAR LAL KHATTAR, chief minister
pointed out. “The responsibility of the legislature is to make laws that must stand the scrutiny of the court of the law. I think we are lagging behind in this key duty,” he said.
The members present in the House thumped the benches when Khattar recalled how the Bills are passed in the House.
He said most of the time the government brings in Bills which are never discussed in the House. “The MLAS don’t get the Bills on time. Once the Bill is introduced, it is passed without debate. This has been going on,” Khattar said and the House reverberated with applause.
Khattar asked former speaker Kanwar Pal if what he said was true or not. Kanwar Pal, who is now an education minister, nodded with a smile.
Even if there is an amendment Bill, he said, there must be a constructive debate.
“A large number of such Bills are later challenged in the court. Let us start the practice of discussing them in detail here in this House,” Khattar said.