West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday refused a request by the state chief secretary for a change in the time of summoning of the assembly from the odd hour of 2 am to 2 pm on March 7. Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi wrote to the governor on Thursday, stating that the state Cabinet's recommendation letter mentioning 2 am as the time for summoning the assembly was an "inadvertent typographical error" and requested that the time of summoning of the House be changed to 2 pm on the same day.
"From constitutional perspective, no cognizance of the request of the Chief Secretary can be taken seeking variation in the decision of the Cabinet and as such, for want of jurisdictional competence the same is being returned herewith," the governor tweeted. Saying that a history of sorts was in the making, the governor on Thursday summoned the state assembly at the unusual time of 2 am on March 7.
He said the decision to summon the House at such a odd hour was as per the recommendation of the state Cabinet. "Invoking article 174 (1) of Constitution, accepting Cabinet Decision, Assembly has been summoned to meet on March 07, 2022 at 2.00 A.M," the governor had tweeted on Thursday.
"Assembly meeting after midnight at 2.00 A.M. is unusual and history of sorts in making, but that is Cabinet Decision," Dhankhar wrote. Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee, commenting on the timing, had said that it may have been a "typographical error".
With PTI Inputs
