AAP urges Goa governor not to approve key bills passed in assembly

PANAJI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday appealed to Goa governor PS Sreedharan Pillai not to approve bills that were recently passed in the state legislative assembly.
AAP said that the bills, which have far-reaching consequences, were passed without proper discussion and in a hurry.
The party MLAs said that chief minister Pramod Sawant has ignored valid concerns and demands for detailed studies on contentious legislation before the bills are passed.
AAP’s chief concern remains the Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Bill, 2023, which has many serious discrepancies.
Contrary to the government’s claim that it will prevent the sale of agricultural land to non-Goans, no such clause exists in the bill, the AAP said.
“When the opposition raises serious defects and discrepancies in a Bill, it is the moral responsibility of the speaker to refer such a Bill to a select committee for further examination; however, the current speaker appeared to be cowed down by the chief minister,” the AAP said in the memorandum submitted to Pillai.
AAP accused the BJP-led state government of “subverting the spirit of democracy” by trying to silence the opposition’s voice and objections in the House.
“In the recently concluded Assembly session, draft Bills were not provided to the MLAs to give them sufficient time to study the Bills. Furthermore, in a show of undemocratic behavior, as many as seven Bills were passed in a short duration of two hours in the final part of the final day of the Assembly session, despite valid objections raised by MLAs,” said the memorandum signed by AAP MLAs and functionaries.
The AAP said that under Sawant’s tenure, not a single select committee has been constituted and important bills have been passed in a complete hurry and without proper discussion or debate.
The party has urged Pillai to refer the bills back to the legislative assembly for clause-by-clause examination by select committees.