A joint session of State legislature will be held on August 3 to mark the centenary celebrations of the Legislative Council.

At a press conference in Bangalore on Tuesday, Council Chairman B K Chandrashekhar said that it was also proposed to invite prominent former members of the State legislature to the programme. “However, a final decision is yet to be taken”, he added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has consented to take part in the celebrations, he said.

Drawing a parallel between the House of Lords in Great Britain and the Upper House in the State, Prof Chandrashekhar said though these Houses enjoyed similar powers, he was not convinced about State Legislature’s action defeating the Finance Bill. “We can organise a debate as to whether the Upper House can veto the Finance Bill or not”, he added.

However, Leader of the Opposition in the Council H K Patil defended the defeat of the Finance Bill in the previous budget session. “When the Bill is not brought before the House in due manner and the requisite information is not provided by the government, the House cannot restrict its role to mere debate. In such situations we will have to send a message by defeating the Bill”, he argued.

Higher Education Minister D H Shankarmurthy was also present at the briefing.

Extended
The ongoing monsoon session of the State Legislature, which was scheduled to be concluded on July 31 has been extended till August 3. A decision in this regard has been taken during the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly on Tuesday.  The session has been extended as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to address the Council.