West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee
Credit: PTI Photo
Kolkata: West Bengal Speaker Biman Banerjee on Friday urged Governor C V Ananda Bose not to make politically motivated statements, and said he should look into the Constitution and determine whether the anti-rape Bill passed by the assembly requires any further clarification.
Bose had on Thursday evening criticised the Mamata Banerjee administration for “failing to send” the technical report along with the Bill, which is necessary for giving assent to it.
“I will request the honourable Governor to please look into the Constitution and determine for himself whether the bill passed by the West Bengal assembly requires any further clarification,” Banerjee told PTI Video.
The Speaker said the Governor should refrain from making “political remarks”.
According to assembly sources, a technical report regarding the bill was sent to the Raj Bhavan.
"The governor criticised the state administration for failing to attach the technical report along with the 'Aparajita Bill'. As per rule, it is mandatory for the state government to send a technical report before a decision is taken on giving assent to a Bill," a Raj Bhavan official had told PTI on Thursday.
"This is not the first time that the government has withheld technical reports and blamed the Raj Bhavan for not clearing Bills," he added.
The assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the anti-rape Bill, which seeks capital punishment for rape convicts if their actions result in the victim's death or leave her in a vegetative state, and life-sentence without parole for other perpetrators.
The proposed law requires assent from the West Bengal Governor and then the President.