Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose gives assent to 3 Bills

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Tuesday gave his assent to three bills passed in the state legislative assembly in 2022 and 2023, officials aware of the development said.

“The Governor has accorded assent to three bills – West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) (Amendment) Bill, 2023, West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and West Bengal Taxation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill, 2022,” said a senior official of Raj Bhavan.

This comes days after the Supreme Court set a timeline of one month for all governors to act on the bills passed by the state assemblies. The apex court in its verdict earlier this month prescribed that the President should take a decision on the bills reserved for consideration by the governor within a period of three months from the date on which such reference is received.

A senior official said that in 2023 the Raj Bhavan was informed that 22 bills were supposedly “pending” with the West Bengal Governor.

“The Governor had the matter assessed. The Governor gave his assent to five bills, while two were pending with the state government for want of information sought,” the Raj Bhavan had said earlier this month.

“The Governor has reserved for consideration of President, 11 bills during 2024 and 2025. Ten of these bills relate to matters related to state universities and one was the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was reserved as recommended by the state government,” the Raj Bhavan had stated on April 9.

The relation between the Governor and the TMC-led government has been acrimonious. Recently Bose turned down an appeal made by chief minister Mamata Banerjee and visited the riot-hit areas of Murshidabad. In July 2024 the TMC-led government had moved the Supreme Court claiming that several bills were waiting for the Governor’s assent.