West Bengal Assembly passes University Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023 to replace Governor with CM as Chancellor

It should be noted that this is the second time the controversial bill was passed in the Assembly. The bill was passed last year however the Governor was yet to give his assent to the Bill.

Kolkata: The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023 was passed in the Assembly on Friday amid opposition by the BJP. Under the Bill, the Chief Minister shall, by virtue of his office, be considered the Chancellor of all state-aided universities, replacing the Governor.

It should be noted that this is the second time the controversial bill was passed in the Assembly. The bill was passed last year however the Governor was yet to give his assent to the Bill.

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The Bill serves as the latest flashpoint between the West Bengal government and Governor CV Ananda Bose. The relations between the TMC-ruled state government and the Governor turned sour after the latter’s criticism of the state government over the West Bengal panchayat polls.

Earlier, the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill 2022 came in the backdrop of former West Bengal Governor Jadgeep Dhankhar’s clash with the state government over appointments of vice-chancellors across universities.

Dhankar, who is now the Vice President, had earlier alleged that the state government had appointed several Vice-Chancellors without Raj Bhavan’s consent. In the draft Bill, the West Bengal government stated, “The Punchhi Commission in its report recommended that to be able to discharge the Constitutional obligations fairly and impartially, the Governor should not be burdened with positions and powers which are not envisaged under the Constitution and which ma, expose the office to controversies or public criticism.” The Commission examined and reviewed how the existing arrangements between the Union and States were functioning, as well as various court rulings regarding the powers, duties, and responsibilities in all areas, including legislative relations, administrative relations, the role of governors, emergency provisions and others.

“The Commission is also of the view that Governor should not be assigned functions casually under any Statutes. His role should be confined to the Constitutional provisions only…,” it added in the statement of objects and reasons behind passing the Bill.