RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, May 18: Return of four bills from Raj Bhawan during the 28 months of UPA governance in Jharkhand exposed the weakness of the persons involved in the bill related works.
A septuagenarian having expertise in parliamentary affairs informed this to lagatar24.com saying the situation calls for strengthening the secretariat cadre in the state.
“While drafting bills or translating bills, proper attention is required to be given on the letter and spirit of the words being used. For this, proper skill is required. It cannot be expected from ADM rank officials posted at the secretariat. ADM could be good in administration but drafting documents need proper skills. When a staff of secretariat cadre staff reaches a higher position after working as assistants, he becomes an expert” the person said.
The expert of parliamentary affairs said: “Mistakes generally involve copying the acts of other states as terminology is different for different states of the country. As the number of experts is limited in the secretariat such mistakes are always expected from there. The situation is this at present that any act passed during the tenure of this government can be challenged before the court.”
An assembly official supported the observation by focusing on the “Jharkhand State Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2022” which Raj Bhawan returned on Tuesday after objecting to 10 points.
“Jharkhand State Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2022 was returned for having differences in English and Hindi versions of the bill. The assembly bill was produced in the Hindi language as a matter of rule. The office has corrected minor spelling mistakes. The English version was sent by the concerned department. Any discrepancy in the letter and spirit in both versions can confuse the governor. Thus it was returned. The situation could have been avoided if proper care had been taken,” the official said.
Asked the official what is the need of sending the bill in both versions, he said: “While in assembly Hindi version is used for all official purposes, in court English version is required. Thus, a bill is sent in both versions before the governor to avoid any confusion.”
The bills so far returned from Raj Bhawan include Mob Lynching Prohibition Bill, Pt Raghunath Murmu Tribal University Bill and Jharkhand Finance Bill besides Jharkhand State Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2022.
A senior secretariat official said preparing bills is a collective exercise and it is difficult to fix responsibility in case of any error.
“Draft prepared by the department is sent to the law department, which sends the bill to the assembly through cabinet co-ordination department. In the assembly secretariat, it is again checked. The error generally takes place due to lack of clarity taking the bill among those involved in the exercise and paucity of time,” the official said without being specific.
