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In the backdrop of the rift between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on several issues in the recent past, the Governor has given his assent to the three bills passed by the state assembly in November last year.

Mann on Sunday thanked Purohit for approving the bills -- the Transfer of Property (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Registration (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023. These three bills were passed on November 29 last year during the two-day session of the Punjab Assembly.

The Chief Minister said that all these bills will act as a catalyst for imparting citizen-centric services to the people in a prompt and hassle-free manner. He said that these bills are aimed at revolutionizing the system in Punjab by necessary reformation. Bhagwant Singh Mann envisioned that people would be immensely benefitted with the clearance of these bills adding that it would go a long way in facilitating them.

Mann also expressed hope that the Governor will also give his assent to the remaining pending bills very soon. He said that the state legislature, which is duly elected by more than three crore people of the state, had passed these bills while keeping in view the larger public interest and the nod by the Governor will ensure that they were implemented in earnest. He said that it is ‘never late to mend’ and the decision of the Governor is a welcome step.

Purohit has reserved three key bills -- the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023 -- for the consideration of the President. The AAP government and the Raj Bhavan had been at loggerheads in the past over several issues.

The Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 paves the way for levying two percent stamp duty on the transfer of property through a general power of attorney. To save stamp duty levied on sale deeds, often properties are sold through power of attorney which can be revoked at any time and its legal recognition in any manner is not equivalent to a sale deed, said an official release.

"Thus apart from huge loss of revenue to the Punjab government, there are also many types of legal hurdles in this process. To prevent this practice, it is proposed to impose 2 percent stamp duty on the power of attorneys issued out of family relationship through the proposed amendment," it said.

The Transfer of Property (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 pertains to levying 0.25 registration fee on equitable mortgage loans while the Registration (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 aims at making sales certificate a compulsorily registrable document.

“The Registration (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 was necessary as whenever a property is sold in a public auction by a revenue officer or by a civil court, a sale certificate is issued by that officer on which 3 percent stamp duty is levied. But this sale certificate is not registerable as per existing law, so generally, neither stamp duty is paid on such a sale certificate nor it is registered. "Apart from being a violation of the law, the government also loses stamp duty of crores of rupees in this process. Therefore, the bill makes this document a compulsory registrable document, so that the Punjab government can get due stamp duty on it," the release said.