There was “no deliberate intention” on the part of Governor Banwarilal Purohit to delay his assent to the Bill on 7.5% horizontal reservation for NEET-qualified students of State government schools in admissions to undergraduate medical courses, it is learnt.
The Governor wanted to get the opinion of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, before giving his nod, to ensure that the legislation, which had “repercussions at the all-India level”, was examined comprehensively.
The fact that the request sent by the Governor’s Secretary, Anandrao V. Patil, on September 26, to Mr. Mehta, gave a detailed account of the issue, is a reflection of Mr. Purohit’s interest in the matter. As soon as the SG’s opinion was received on Thursday evening, the Governor decided to give his assent the next day.
The Governor was cognisant that the SG would have to be given sufficient time as he would have to go through enormous amounts of material on NEET, which had seen a number of litigations in the recent years. The time required by him to clear the legislation was discussed with a delegation of Ministers, who met him about 10 days ago. Eventually, it was agreed that it would take at least three weeks.
It was also pointed out that on many occasions, the Governor was said to have cleared files immediately, one of which was the Bill declaring the Cauvery delta a protected agricultural zone.
