| Date | 6 March 1968 - 30 July 1968 (146 days) |
|---|---|
| Location | Punjab, India |
| Type | Parliamentary crisis |
| Cause |
|
| Participants |
|
| Outcome |
|
On 6 March 1968, the legislators from Punjab Janta Party and Indian National Congress moved a no-confidence motion against Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly, Joginder Singh Mann and the later development cause a Constitutional crisis in Punjab.
After fall of the People's United Front government, Lachhman Singh Gill's Punjab Janta Party formed the Government with Congress and other parties on 25 November 1967.
On 6 March 1968, a motion of no-confidence was admitted against Speaker Joginder Singh Mann (Akali Dal - Tara Singh) in the house. [1] The motion was backed by 56 members. The Congress and the Janta members voted for admission. [1] The motion expressed lack of confidence in the Speaker for his failure to maintain dignity and decorum of the House and for his failure in getting his order enforced. [1]
Speaker's removal failed
The following day, when the Assembly was in session, the Leader of Opposition, Gurnam Singh, challenged the constitutionality of the no-confidence motion moved against the Speaker. He questioned its validity on the ground that, under Article 179(c) [2] of the Constitution of India, a 14-days notice for the removal of the Speaker was required. Moreover, there was no provision for expressing want of confidence in the Speaker. [3] He asserted that under the rules there could be a resolution to remove him. But the two motions expressed lack of confidence in the Speaker. So their tabling as well as the permission granted by the House for discussion was unconstitutional.
The Speaker took the hint and declared that a no-confidence motion admitted against him on previous day was unconstitutional, as it violated Article 179(c), and deemed to have not been moved. The ruling was followed by unruly scenes. The Speaker then adjourned the House for two months. The Speaker claimed that:-
Since I found no hope of the ruling Janta Party and the Congress showing the signs of permitting the House to work in a smooth manner, I felt convinced that it was of no use wasting the public time and money. Therefore, I adjourned the House for two months. [3]
Constitutional crisis
The abrupt and adjournment created a serious Constitutional problem in the State. It was a Budget Session of the Assembly and for the budget for 1968-69 had got to passed before the end of the Financial year 1967-68 (31 March 1968). If it was not done, all government activities would come to a standstill from April next. [4] This cause a great cause of concern for the Lachhman Singh Gill's led coalition Government.
On 11 March, the Speaker ordered prorogation of the State Assembly and this was authenticated by the Chief Secretary to the Government. [5] On 13 March, the Governor of Punjab, D. C. Pavate, issued an Ordinance to regulate the procedure for transacting the financial business. The ordinance also barred the Speaker from adjourning the House on his own. On the following day, Governor summoned the Assembly to meet on 18 March ar 2:00 p.m., but the members received the notification relating to the summoning of the State Assembly on 18 March. [5]
On 18 March, when house met, Gurnam Singh raised a point of order that the re-summoning of the House by the Governor was unconstitutional ad bad in law on the following grounds:
The Speaker accepted Gurnam Singh's contention and alleged that the House had been summoned for 14 March, but prorogued on 18 March. He further added that the order re-summoning the House was also illegal and void. He, therefore, adjourned the House and left the hall after giving his ruling and the Assembly staff also withdrew. [5]
Passing of Bills
After few minutes Sergeant-at-arms announced the arrival of the Deputy Speaker and the proceedings of the House, began with the Deputy Speaker occupying a front seat. Within a seconds several men jumped onto the Speaker's rostrum from behind. [5] These men tried to remove tried to remove the opposition members and scuffle followed. Within fifteen minutes the rostrum was cleared and the Deputy Speaker occupied the Chair of Speaker. Amidst deafening noise and thumping of tables, shouting of slogans, all Financial business of the House including passing of Supplementary Budget for 1968-69 relating to Appropriation Bills were purported to have been passed. On 22 March, the Punjab Governor, gave his assent to the two Appropriation Bills. [6]
Court's involvement
On 2 April, the Punjab and Haryana High Court admitted two writ petitions filed by the opposition leafers, challenging the validity of the Punjab Governor's order proroguing the State Assembly, the 'Punjab Legislative (Regulation of Procedure) - in relation to Financial Business - Ordinance 1968'; the 'Punjab Appropriation Bills' and the sittings of State Assembly and the State Council on 18 and 20 March respectively. On 10 April, High Court unanimously held the two acts to be ultra vires of the Constitution and invalid. [7]
Lachhman Singh Gill government filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of India against the judgment of the High Court. On 13 May, the SC allowed 'interim stay' against the judgment of the High Court thereby enabling the State of Punjab to make collections till 21 May. On 30 July, Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the High Court, which halt the crisis permanently. [7]
However, Government secured a win in the Court but failed to remove Speaker and this cause widened the gap between two parties i.e. Punjab Janta Party and Indian National Congress. With more differences, ultimately, Congress withdrawed the support to Gill's government. On 21 August 1969, Lachhman Singh Gill resigned form the Chief Minister post. [8] As no other party was in position to form Government, on 23 August, President's rule was imposed and the Assembly dissolved prematurely.
Prorogation in the Westminster system of government is the action of proroguing, or interrupting, a parliament, or the discontinuance of meetings for a given period of time, without a dissolution of parliament. The term is also used for the period of such a discontinuance between two legislative sessions of a legislative body.
The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, directly elected from 117 single-seat constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner. The Speaker of the sixteenth assembly is Kultar Singh Sandhwan. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly since 6 March 1961 is the Vidhan Bhavan in Chandigarh.
The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan, having a total of 371 seats, with 297 general seats, 66 seats reserved for women and 8 reserved for non-Muslims. The 17th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab was dissolved prematurely on 14 January 2023. The date of next elections in Punjab is being highly contested legally. The Constitution of Pakistan requires that new elections for the Punjab Assembly must be held within 90 days from the date of dissolution under Article 224(3)(a). Therefore, by law, new elections for the Punjab Assembly must have been held by 14 April 2023. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan had unilaterally announced that the province was set to elect a new legislature on 14 May 2023. After that date's passing, it is unclear when provincial elections will be held.
Gurnam Singh was an Indian politician and the 6th Chief Minister of Punjab from 8 March 1967 to 25 November 1967, and again between 17 February 1969 to 27 March 1970. He was the first Shiromani Akali Dal Chief minister of Punjab. His ministry fell due to defection of Lachhman Singh Gill, who became the next Chief Minister with the support of the Indian National Congress. He died in an air crash in Delhi on 31 May 1973.
Lachhman Singh Gill was an Indian politician who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Punjab. He remained in this post from 25 November 1967 to 22 August 1968. He was a member of Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), a Sikh-centered regional political party in Punjab.
The Government of Punjab, also known as the State Government of Punjab or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Punjab and its 23 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Punjab, a judiciary and a legislative branch.
Akali Dal – Sant Fateh Singh Group was one of several hard-line splinter groups founded by Sant Fateh Singh. Akali Dal – Sant Fateh Singh was formed in 1962. It is led by Sant Fateh Singh. The party was a Sikh-centered political party in the Indian state of Punjab. The party was created due to disagreement between Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh. The party gained control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in October 1962. In the Gurdwara elections in January 1965, the party annexed 90 of the seats, while Master Tara Singh's party could manage only 45. In 1967 during Punjab Legislative Assembly election Party got 24 seats and with the support of other Parties and Independents under the leadership of Gurnam Singh formed People's United Front and the government but resigned after defection by Lachhman Singh Gill and then both factions merged and formed Shiromani Akali Dal on 7 October 1968 at Khadur Sahib.
Punjab Janata Party was an Indian political party.
The Interim East Punjab Assembly was a unicameral governing and law making body of the newly formed Indian state of East Punjab.
People's United Front was a Post Poll Alliance of 7 Political parties and Independents formed in a Convention at Khanna on 4 March 1967, in Punjab after the election of 1967.
Akali Dal – Master Tara Singh Group was one of several hard-line splinter groups founded by Tara Singh. Akali Dal – Tara Singh was formed in 1962. It was led by Master Tara Singh. The party was a Sikh-centered political party in the Indian state of Punjab. The party was created due to disagreement between Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh. The party failed to gained control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in October 1962. In the Gurdwara elections in January 1965, the party annexed 45 of the seats, while Sant Fateh Singh's party could manage 90. In 1967 during Punjab Legislative Assembly election Party got only 2 seats and gave their support to Akali Dal Sant Fateh Singh with other Parties and Independents and formed People's United Front and the Government under the leadership of Gurnam Singh but resigned after defection by Lachhman Singh Gill and then both the factions merged and formed Shiromani Akali Dal on 7 October 1968 at Khadur Sahib.
The 1962 Punjab Legislative Assembly election was the Third Vidhan Sabha election of the state when the Indian National Congress emerged as the largest party with 90 seats in the 154-seat legislature in the election. The Shiromani Akali Dal became the official opposition, holding 16 seats. From 5 July 1966 to 1 November 1966, Assembly was under suspension.
The 1967 Punjab Legislative Assembly election was the Fourth Vidhan Sabha election of the state. This was the first hung assembly. Indian National Congress emerged as the largest party with 48 seats in the 104-seat legislature in the election. The Akali Dal - Sant Fateh Singh became the second, holding 24 seats. On 28 August 1968, Assembly dissolved prematurely and president rule was imposed.
The 1969 Punjab Legislative Assembly election was the fifth Vidhan Sabha election of the state. This was the second hung assembly. Shiromani Akali Dal emerged as the largest party with 43 seats in the 104-seat legislature in the election. The Indian National Congress became the second, holding 38 seats. On 13 June 1971, Assembly dissolved prematurely and president rule was imposed.
United Front was a Post Poll Alliance formed after the 1969 Punjab Legislative Assembly election by Akali Dal, Jan Sangh and Left Parties as no singal Party got absolute majority in Assembly.
The 1972 Punjab Legislative Assembly election was the sixth Vidhan Sabha election of the state. Indian National Congress emerged as the victorious party with 66 seats in the 104-seat legislature in the election. The Shiromani Akali Dal became the official opposition, holding 24 seats. On 30 April 1977, Assembly dissolved and president rule was imposed.
Election for the Sixteenth Legislative Assembly was held in the Indian state of Punjab. Polling was done on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes declaration of results was done on 10 March 2022. The Fifteenth Punjab assembly was dissolved on 11 March 2022. The dissolution was necessitated after the results of the election was declared on 10 March. In the Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly, 92 members of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party form the treasury benches. The main opposition party in the assembly is Indian National Congress with 18 seats. The other parties which are in opposition are the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and independents. AAP MLA, Kultar Singh Sandhwan was announced as the speaker of the assembly.
A political and constitutional crisis emerged in Pakistan from, 3 April 2022 to 10 April 2022 when, National Assembly's Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri dismissed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan during a session in which it was expected to be taken up for a vote, alleging that a foreign country's involvement in the regime change was contradictory to Article 5 of the Constitution of Pakistan. Moments later, Khan stated in a televised address that he had advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly. Alvi complied with Khan's advice under Article 58 of the constitution. This resulted in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) taking a suo motu notice of the ongoing situation, creating a constitutional crisis, as effectively, Imran Khan led a constitutional coup. Four days later, the SCP ruled that the dismissal of the no-confidence motion, the prorogation of the National Assembly, the advice from Imran Khan to President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly were unconstitutional, and overturned these actions in a 5-0 vote. The Supreme Court further held that the National Assembly had not been prorogued and had to be reconvened by the speaker immediately and no later than 10:30 a.m. on 9 April 2022.
