M A I N   N E W S

Chautala clips Governor’s powers
Y. P. Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 1
The Haryana Government today took another step on the collision path with the Governor.

The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister here today, decided to withdraw the powers of the Governor to take a decision on memorials submitted to him by state government employees, who may feel aggrieved by any decision of the government in the matter of employment. The memorials are submitted to the Governor after an employee has exhausted all avenues of redressal available to him with the government.

The Cabinet has now decided to vest this power in a Cabinet subcommittee.

In layman's language, a memorial is akin to a mercy petition filed by a convict after all his appeals against the conviction have been turned down by the courts of law.

The Governor's power to decide on the memorials has been there since times immemorial. A hurried glance of the government publications, however, revealed that the earliest reference to this power was made by the Punjab Government in 1952, when Haryana was a part of that state.

In the case of members of all-India services and the Central Government employees this power is vested in the President of India.

Officially no reason has been given for this unprecedented decision which, many feel, is fraught with dangerous consequences for the employees. Even the memorandum placed before the Cabinet is believed to be vague. Sources say the memorandum says that "it has been discussed and felt" that the power to dispose of the memorials should be given to a Cabinet subcommittee. The sources say the memorandum does not say who discussed the issue with whom.

A copy of the memorandum placed before the Cabinet was sent to the Governor before the Cabinet met as per the prevailing convention.

It is no secret that the state government, to be more precise Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, and the Governor, Babu Parmanand, are not at the best of relations.

Many decisions of Babu Parmanand, which endeared him to a large number of Haryanavis, however, annoyed the Chief Minister. One of such decisions was his refusal to give assent to the controversial Haryana Casino Bill, which has been sent to the President. The state government also did not relish the appointment of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC) of Kurukshetra University by Babu Parmanand without consulting the government. Under the Kurukshetra University Act, the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the university, has the power to appoint a PVC on his own. The Government reacted by abolishing the post of PVC in the three universities of the State.

The latest act of the Governor, which, sources say, has invited the retribution from the government, is his seeking a report from the Chief Minister on the infamous Harsola incident in which several Dalits families migrated from a Kaithal village, allegedly due to the excesses committed on them by members of a dominating community.

Sources say it is also likely that Babu Parmanand may send three more controversial Bills passed by the State Assembly in the last session to the President, which will not be to the liking of the government. These Bills sought to make it mandatory for the State Election Commission to consult the state government before fixing the dates for elections to the municipal bodies and panchayati raj institutions. The Opposition feels that the Bills sought to undermine the independence of a constitutional authority.

Bureaucrats feel that the withdrawal of the Governor’s powers in respect of the memorials would concentrate the powers of punishing and hearing appeals against the punishment in one hand. Any disciplinary action against class I and class II officers will have to be approved by the minister concerned. This, they say, is the violation of the principles of natural justice.