Punjab Govt moves SC over convening Assembly session: AAP

The Punjab government has been "forced" to move the Supreme Court over the issue of summoning the budget session of the state assembly as the governor is not responding to the cabinet's decision in this regard, Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha said on Sunday. The AAP leader said the matter will be mentioned in the apex court on Monday morning. The standoff between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and the AAP government led by Bhagwant Mann had intensified on Thursday with Purohit indicating he is in no hurry to summon the session and reminding the chief minister about his "derogatory" response to a letter from Raj Bhavan. Purohit's letter to CM Mann had come two days after the Punjab Cabinet decided to call the assembly session from March 3 and requested the governor to summon the House.

"Settled law that Governor has to summon assembly as per the advice of Cabinet .... We have been forced to move Supreme Court on something as basic as summoning budget session of Punjab Assembly. Matter will be mentioned tomorrow morning in SC," Chadha said on Twitter. "On 22nd Feb 2023, the Punjab Cabinet asks the Punjab Governor to summon the budget session of the assembly from 3rd March 2023. "On 23rd Feb 2023, Punjab Governor says he needs to take legal advice on that. Till date Governor not reverted on this issue," the Rajya Sabha MP tweeted.