The Attorney General of India has been issued a notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging validity of the 97th amendment to the Constitution, on the ground that Union Government had no “legislative competence” to enact it by the Gujarat High Court.
Rajendra Shah of Consumer Protection Analytic Committee (CPAC) has filed a PIL on the ground that Union has no power to make a law for cooperative societies, which comes under the purview of states as per the Constitution.
The 97th amendment, which is about promotion of cooperatives by the state government, was passed by the Parliament in December 2011 and came into effect from February 15 after it received Presidential assent.
Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala, division bench of Gujarat High Court, last week issued notice to Attorney General, and scheduled the hearing after three weeks.
The petition has sought that the amendment be declared null and void, and be stayed while the PIL is being heard.
