It was a calculated decision on part of the Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy when he decided to make his move for rejection of the draft A.P. Reorganisation Bill, 2013 in the Legislature and return it to President Pranab Mukherjee.
Mr. Kiran Reddy held elaborate consultations with constitutional experts and legal luminaries on the term “draft” Bill given in writing by the Union Home Ministry.
The experts opined that the President should refer the original Bill on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers and not the draft as committed by the Union Ministry.
“The Legislature has to give its views on the original Bill. This is an error. The mistake involving a constitutional point has given scope for seeking rejection of the entire legislation outright,” a Seemandhra MP told The Hindu .
The Chief Minister held a series of meetings with his Cabinet colleagues from Seemandhra on the course of action to be adopted as the January 30 deadline to refer the draft back to President Pranab Mukherjee was fast approaching.
He reportedly took note of the constitutional violation in the exercise and, after consultations with the experts, revealed to the Ministers his intention of sending back the draft.
The rejection of the draft along with the request to the President that he should not send the legislation with “shortcomings galore” to Parliament had its base in the process adopted in Bihar.
The two Houses of Bihar Legislature rejected the Reorganisation Bill in 1998 along with a similar request that the President should not recommend the presentation of the Bill to Parliament in the larger interests of the State and the country.
