In oath tussle with West Bengal govt, governor CV Ananda Bose blinks first
Times of India | 5 July 2024
KOLKATA: Amid the ongoing standoff over the swearing-in of newly elected MLAs, governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday blinked first, authorising assembly deputy speaker Ashish Banerjee to administer oath to Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar.
Bose's six-page statement on the issue came within hours of speaker Biman Banerjee announcing a special session of the Bengal assembly on Friday, asserting that "the assembly is not helpless in the hands of the governor".
Bose said he had taken the decision on July 2 in New Delhi considering the requests made by the MLAs.
Responding to this, speaker Banerjee said: "I cannot react to what the governor has said on his X handle. We have received no formal communication. The special session will commence on Friday at 12 noon. Like I have already said, we are not helpless."
While officially, the special session has been convened to extend the term of the 26 assembly standing committees - including four finance committees - whose tenures end on July 8, the timing of the special sitting comes exactly a month after Sayantika and Sarkar won as MLAs but were not sworn in.
Article 188 of the Constitution mandates that newly elected MLAs will have to take oath in the governor's presence or any person appointed by him. An official said the rules of business in Bengal assembly, Chapter II, say that a member who has not already taken oath following Article 188 of the Constitution may do so at the commencement of a sitting of the House or at any other time of the sitting of the House as the Speaker directs.
Bose said: "It was felt that it was not appropriate that the newly elected MLAs should remain without taking oath. The delay was squarely due to the provocative communication by the speaker that undermined the authority of the governor."
The governor also referred to a rule that there is a Rs 500 penalty per day if an MLA participates in assembly proceedings without taking oath under Article 188.
Earlier, speaker Banerjee did not comment on whether the two MLAs will be administered oath on Friday. "There will be a solution and the solution will be following the rules of the assembly. The solution is expected, and it will be not by force but as per rules of the assembly. It is not about emotion. You will have to wait till Friday. If one thinks we are helpless, then it is a false notion," he said.
On Thursday, too, the two MLAs demonstrated on the assembly premises, demanding that the governor come to the assembly to administer their oaths.
Bose had invited Sayantika and Hossain to Raj Bhavan for their oath on June 26 but they skipped it and insisted that it be held at the assembly in presence of the speaker and started demonstrations last Thursday.
"I have seen the governor had filed a suit (defamation suit in Calcutta high court) and also named our two newly elected MLAs in it," the speaker said.