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Action and authority
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Action and authority: On Governors and implementation of decisions by elected regimes Governors should leave no scope for criticism that they challenge elected regimesThat two States have approached the Supreme Court of India against the conduct of their Governors once again flags the problem of political appointees in Raj Bhavan using their authority to delay the implementation of decisions by elected regimes, if not undermine them. Tamil Nadu and Kerala have questioned the delay in the granting assent to Bills passed by the legislature . Tamil Nadu is also aggrieved that proposals related to grant of remission to some convicts , sanction for prosecution of some former Ministers and appointments to the State Public Service Commissions have not been acted upon. Governors need not rubber stamp any decision, but one can question the practice of Governors, especially in States not governed by the ruling party at the Centre, blocking decisions and Bills. For instance , some Governors appear to be hostile to the very idea of amendments to university laws if they seek to leave out Chancellors, invariably the Governors themselves, from the process of appointing vice-chancellors, or establishing new universities in which Governors are not chancellors. The idea of having Governors as ex-officio vice-chancellor of most universities is only a practice and is actualised through their founding statutes . However, Governors seem to be labouring under the misconception that they have a right to be chancellors and tend to delay assent to any Bill that clips or removes their power. It is time to have a national prohibition on Governors being burdened with the role of chancellor of any university, as recommended by the Justice M.M. Punchhi Commission on Centre-State relations.It is unfortunate that absence of a time-frame for giving assent is used by some Governors to stymie laws passed by the legislature. One would have thought the Supreme Court’s observations, arising out of the Telangana government’s petition , reminding constitutional authorities that the phrase “as soon as possible” appearing in Article 200 of the Constitution contains significant “constitutional content” would have driven into them a sense of immediacy in considering Bills. What the Court meant was that it would be constitutionally impermissible for Governors to indefinitely hold-on to Bills without conveying a decision. The States, too, ought-to be prudent in their decision-making without leaving scope for questions on the merit of their decisions. The absence of any laid-down process to seek applications and assess the relative merits of applicants before appointing the chairperson and the members of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission is a case-in point. The larger point that none should forget is that Governors are explicitly restricted in their functioning by the ‘aid and advice’ clause in the Constitution and ought not to misuse the discretionary space available to them.
The Hindu

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Regime (noun) – Government, administration, authority, rule, command

शासन

 

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Criticism (noun) – Censure, reproach, condemnation, denunciation, critique

आलोचना

 

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Approach (verb) – Address, tackle, handle, deal with, attend to

पहुँचना

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Conduct (noun) – Behavior, performance, demeanor, carriage, deportment

आचरण

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Flag (verb) – Indicate, signal, highlight, point out, mark

संकेत करना

 

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Appointee (noun) – Nominee, candidate, representative, designee, officeholder

नियुक्त व्यक्ति

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Undermine (verb) – Weaken, sabotage, subvert, undercut, erode

कमजोर करना

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Granting (adjective) – Allowing, permitting, giving, conceding, acceding

प्रदान करना

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Assent (noun) – Approval, consent, agreement, sanction, endorsement

स्वीकृति

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Legislature (noun) – Parliament, assembly, congress, council, legislative body

विधायिका

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Aggrieve (verb) – Distress, grieve, afflict, upset, pain

सताना

 

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Remission (noun) – Pardon, forgiveness, exoneration, reprieve, absolution

छूट, माफ़ी

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Convict (noun) – Prisoner, inmate, felon, criminal, delinquent

दोषी

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Sanction (verb) – Authorize, permit, allow, approve, ratify

मंजूरी देना

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Prosecution (noun) – Legal proceedings, litigation, prosecution case, legal action

अभियोजन

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Former (adjective) – Previous, prior, erstwhile, one-time, ex-

भूतपूर्व

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Rubber stamp (verb) – approve automatically without proper consideration.

मंज़ूरी देना

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Ruling (adjective) – Governing, reigning, dominant, controlling, predominant

सत्तारूढ़

 

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For instance (phrase) – For example, as an example, to illustrate, such as, like

उदाहरण के लिए

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Hostile (adjective) – Antagonistic, unfriendly, adversarial, inimical, opposed

शत्रुतापूर्ण

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Amendment (noun) – Modification, revision, alteration, change, adjustment

संशोधन

 

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Seek (verb) – try, attempt, endeavour, strive

प्रयास करना

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Invariably (adverb) – Always, every time, without fail, constantly, perpetually

लगभग हमेशा

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Actualise (verb) – Realize, fulfil, achieve, effectuate, enact

साकार करना

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Statute (noun) – Law, act, enactment, regulation, legislation

कानून

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Labour under (phrasal verb) – Operate with difficulty, struggle with, work under, deal with, grapple with

संघर्ष करना

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Tend (verb) – Be inclined, have a tendency, be likely, be prone, be disposed

प्रवृत्त होना

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Clip (verb) – Reduce, trim, cut back, curtail, limit

कम करना

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Prohibition (noun) – banning, forbidding, prohibiting, barring,

निषेध/ रोक

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Stymie (verb) – Hinder, obstruct, thwart, impede, hamper

बाधा डालना

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Petition (noun) – Appeal, plea, request, entreaty, application\ याचिका

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Drive into (phrasal verb) – Instill, inculcate, embed, implant, infuse

समझाना

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Immediacy (noun) – Urgency, promptness, immediateness, directness

तात्कालिकता

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Impermissible (adjective) – Not allowed, unacceptable, prohibited, forbidden, not permitted

नाजायज, अनुचित

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Hold on to (phrasal verb) – keep or retain someone or something

रखना

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Convey (verb) – Communicate, transmit, relay, impart, make known

प्रदान करना

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Ought to (modal verb) – Should, supposed to, expected to, need to

होना चाहिए

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Prudent (adjective) – Wise, well-judged, judicious, sagacious, sensible

विवेकी

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Merit (noun) – Good point, strong point

योग्यता

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Laid-down (adjective) – Prescribed, specified, established, set, fixed

निर्धारित

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Assess (verb) – Evaluate, judge, gauge, rate, estimate

मूल्यांकन करना

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A case in point (phrase) – Perfect example, typical case, prime example, good illustration

उदाहरण के तौर पर

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Explicitly (adverb) – Clearly, distinctly, unequivocally, directly, expressly

स्पष्ट रूप से

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Functioning (noun) – Operation, working, action, performance

कार्य

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Clause (noun) – Provision, stipulation, condition, requirement, article

धारा

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Discretionary (adjective) – Optional, elective, non-compulsory, at one's discretion

विवेकाधीन

Discretionary power (noun) – Discretionary power can be defined as the authority that allows an administrative agency or official to choose the most reasonable decision among several options following public and private interests