Governor can't delay Assembly however inappropriate CM comments are: Supreme Court; Punjab Budget Session to be held on March 3

The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit has summoned the Budget Session of the State Legislative Assembly for March 3, at 10 AM..A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha was hearing a plea filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab after the State's Governor refused to summon the Budget Session of the State legislature, which was slated to begin on March 3.Justifying his refusal to start the Budget Session, the Governor cited the need to get legal advice over a "derogatory letter" addressed to him by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who later tweeted the letter..During the hearing, the CJI called for more civil discourse between the functionaries and said,"In our communications between constitutional authorities, there has to be constitutional discourse...there cannot be statements like who are you or how Centre selects you. Again, however inappropriate the tweet of the CM may be, the Assembly Session cannot be delayed."The Court also made it clear that there was no occasion for the Governor to seek legal advice on whether to convene the Budget Session, as he was bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers..However, the Court did criticise the Chief Minister for the intemperate language used in his letter."Governor has the right to seek information from the CM on the decisions taken and once such information is sought, the CM is duty to bound to furnish it. The tone and tenor of the letter by the CM and the tweet by the CM leaves much to be desired.".The matter was mentioned this morning before CJI Chandrachud, who agreed to hear it at 3:50 PM..When the matter was taken up in the afternoon, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the Punjab government urged the Court to go through the letters exchange between the Chief Minister and the Governor.Appearing for the Governor, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta referred to an order of the Governor saying that he has summoned the Budget Session at 10 AM on Friday."Possibly the plea will not survive. Governor never refused and he said he is taking legal advise. Please take the order passed by the Governor today," Mehta said.Singhvi conceded that the issue was now infructuous, but asked the Court to look into the matter. He said,"Every time I come to court, he gives a letter saying ok we are doing it now. This is because he does not want nation to know......Governor says some statement was made by the CM outside the house...this was extraordinary. Cabinet says convene. Reply of the Governor is that you Mr CM said something to me about 3 crore Punjabis...is this not harassment? Is this not unjust? The Governor is hijacking the Constitution. Is this the way he upholds the constitutional role assigned?"Referring to the letter sent by the CM to the Governor, SG Mehta then told the Court,"Please see the level of discourse we have stooped to and this is the official language addressed to the Governor by the Chief Minister. Please see it.".CJI Chandrachud then said,"When Governor asks you (CM) to furnish information on legislation etc, you are bound to answer to the Governor like on what basis teachers were sent for training. Similarly when Cabinet takes decision to convene Budget Session, Governor cannot say I will seek legal advice.""You cannot be intemperate while answering the Governor...and you (Governor) also cannot hold up the session," Justice Narasimha added..In its order, the Court reiterated that the Governor is the Constitutional Head of State who acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. It went on to state,"In view of the clear constitutional position, the authority entrusted to the Governor is to be exercised in aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. This is not an area where the Governor exercises his constitutional discretion. He was not summoning the House after general election, but a House of a duly elected government for the Budget Session."On a parting note, the Court said,"While this Court is cognizant of free speech and expression, it is to emphasize that constitutional discourse has to be conducted with a sense of decorum and mature statesmanship, particularly in the context of constitutional dialogue as between functionaries. Political differences in a democratic polity are acceptable, and have to be worked out with a sense of propriety and maturity without having to race to the bottom. Unless these features are adhered to, constitutional principles will be put to jeopardy.".As per reports, Mann had sent the letter in question shortly after he tweeted on February 14 that he is not accountable to the Governor and that he is only accountable to the 3 crore Punjabis who had elected him. The said letter also included a request to summon the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly. In his response, the Governor reportedly said to Mann,“Since your tweet and letter both are not only patently unconstitutional but extremely derogatory also, therefore I am compelled to take legal advise on this issue. Only after getting legal advice I will take a decision on your request.".Mann's tweet and letter was in reply to the Governor questioning the Chief Minister on the selection of school principals for a training trip to Singapore.The Governor is stated to have written that he had received complaints of "malpractices and illegalities", as per a report by HT. The same letter also raised questions on several other decisions taken by the AAP government in Punjab, including those on the posting of a police commissioner and the non-disbursal of scholarships to Scheduled Caste (SC) students.Governor Purohit had reportedly asked Mann to reply to this letter in a fortnight, failing which he would be compelled to take legal advice for further action.The written reply sent by Chief Minister Mann had questioned the basis on which the Governor had held his post.“You have asked me on what basis the principals selected for training in Singapore. The People of Punjab want to ask, on what basis are the governors in different states selected by the central government in the absence of any specific qualification in the Indian Constitution?” he reportedly wrote.