Guj governor refers three bills to Prez, approves 11 others

Bills related to formation of new private universities in Gujarat and exempting restaurants from seeking the mandatory police certificate are among the 11 draft laws that were approved today by Governor O P Kohli.

The 11 bills are among the 14 such proposed legislations that were cleared by the state Legislative Assembly in recently-concluded Budget session.

"While the 11 bills have been approved by the governor, the rest three have been sent to President for his approval, as these three bills fall into the concurrent list," said a senior official of state Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs department.

Among the bills approved today was the one related to establishment of Road Safety Authority, while others pertain to setting up of new private universities and exempting restaurants from seeking the registration certificate from the police.

Under the establishment of new private university bills, apart from two state-run universities, Gujarat will get additional new private universities.

Under the Gujarat Road Safety Authority Bill, the proposed body would be the lead agency for undertaking the work of road safety with the coordination of separate government departments, NGOs, and volunteers, in a bid to bring down number of fatalities in road accidents.

The three bills that were sent to President are: The Registration (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, the Gujarat SC/ST and OBC (Regulation of Issuance of and Verification of Caste Certificates) Bill, and the Gujarat Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings (Amendment) Bill.

The Registration (Gujarat Amendment) Bill seeks to amend the Central act related to registration of property. The bill amended certain sections in order to "prevent unauthorised persons from creating false titles of property".

The Gujarat SC/ST and OBC bill, which seeks to create a new state Act, deals with the illegal practice of producing fake caste certificates.

As per the provisions of this proposed legislation, those found guilty of producing fake caste certificate either for government jobs, or for securing admissions or for contesting local bodies polls, would face a jail term of up to three years.

The 'Gujarat Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings (Amendment) Bill' seeks to amend the state Act, 1947, to eliminate discrepancies in imposition of fine on land owners for the transfer or partition of their land.

Since all these three bills are related to Central acts or to the provisions of the Constitution, they have been sent to the president for his approval by the governor, said the official.