The Jharkhand Assembly on Wednesday passed the 1932 Khatiyan Bill without amendment. The Bill was passed last year also. However, then it was returned by the Governor and suggestions were sought from the Attorney General. After passing the Bill on Wednesday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said the Attorney General’s advice was not logical.
The Bill deals with the Jharkhandi identity and land records of 1932 would be the criteria to verify the State’s domicile and employment policy. The Bill also has a provision to reserve grade 3 and grade 4 government jobs to locals.
Mr. Soren proposed that the Bill passed on November 11, 2022, should be approved again in the same form. He said the Attorney General’s advice was not logical, claiming that the opinion from the Advocate General was taken on the Bill. He urged that the Bill be included in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.
The Chief Minister said the message given by the Governor quoting the Attorney General had nothing to do with this Bill.
Supreme Court order
“The Governor has attached the legal advice of the Attorney General with his message and has accordingly directed reconsideration of the Bill. But in relation to the order of the Supreme Court in Satyajit Kumar vs. State of Jharkhand, I would like to say that the decision is not relevant in the context of the present Bill,” Mr. Soren said.
The Chief Minister said, “In the order, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Governor does not have the right to make laws or amend them under paragraph 5 (1) of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. The Legislative Assembly of the State has this power to make rules under Article 309 of the Constitution. For this reason, we decided to prepare a Bill and obtained the consent of the Legislative Assembly.”
Mr. Soren added that the State government had also passed the Bill related to increasing the reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) and Backward Classes from 50 to 67% and sent it to the Governor.
“We have also made a provision in the Bill to include the current domicile-related Bill in the 9th Schedule, so that it can provide a protective shield against judicial review. It is surprising that the learned Attorney General has not taken this fact into consideration anywhere in giving his advice. From all facts it appears that the advice given by the Attorney General is not reasonable and logical,” Mr. Soren said.
Leader of the Opposition Amar Bauri said it was clearly written in this Bill that unless it is included in the 9th Schedule, this system would not be implemented. Mr. Bauri also claimed that the government was trying to postpone this matter by sending it to the Centre for inclusion in the 9th Schedule.
“The government is again doing the work of delaying, diverting and obstructing and wants to create a constitutional crisis. The government should accept that it has failed in providing employment,” Mr. Bauri said.
