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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western...

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) spokesperson Pradeep Shetty.   “We are in continuous touch with the concerned authorities, but the situation is very gloomy. There is no response from the Centre or the Ministry of Petroleum on when the situation will ease. We fear that more than 50 pc of all eateries in Mumbai will soon down the shutters. The same will apply to the rest of the state and many other parts of India,” Shetty told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   The shortage of commercial LPG has badly affected multiple sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, mass private or commercial kitchens and even the laundry businesses, industry players said.   At their wits' ends, many restaurateurs resorted to the reliable old iron ‘chulhas’ (stoves) fired by either coal or wood - the prices of which have also shot up and result in pollution - besides delaying the cooking.   Anticipating a larger crisis, even domestic LPG consumers besieged retail dealers in Mumbai, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Akola, Nagpur to book their second cylinder, with snaky queues in many cities. The stark reality of the 12-days old Gulf war with the disturbed supplies has hit the people and industries in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.   “The ordinary folks leave home in the morning after breakfast, then they rely on the others in the food chain for their lunch or dinner. Many street retailers have also shut down temporarily,” said Shetty.   Dry Snacks A quick survey of some suburban ‘khau gullies’ today revealed that the available items were mostly cold sandwiches, fruit or vegetable salads, cold desserts or ice-creams, cold beverages and packed snacks. Few offered the regular ‘piping hot’ foods that need elaborate cooking, or charging higher than normal menu rates, and even the app-based food delivery system was impacted.   Many people were seen gloomily munching on colorful packets of dry snacks like chips, chivda, sev, gathiya, samosas, etc. for lunch, the usually cheerful ‘chai ki dukaans’ suddenly disappeared from their corners, though soft drinks and tetrapaks were available.   Delay, Scarcity  Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association President Deepak Singh yesterday conceded to “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.   “We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue is with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers,” said Singh, adding that guidelines to prioritise educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, are being followed, but others are also getting their supplies.   Despite the assurances, Shetty said that the current status is extremely serious since the past week and the intermittent disruptions have escalated into a near-total halt in supplies in many regions since Monday.   Adding to the dismal picture is the likelihood of local hoteliers associations in different cities like Pune, Palghar, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and more resorting to tough measures from Thursday, including temporary shutdown of their outlets, which have run out of gas stocks.

Tamil Nadu Governor’s Withholding of Bills “Illegal and Arbitrary”: Supreme Court



In a significant victory for the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government, the Supreme Court has ruled that Governor RN Ravi's decision to withhold assent to 10 crucial Bills was "illegal" and "arbitrary". The court emphasized that once assent is withheld, the Governor cannot then reserve those Bills for the President.


"The action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for the President is illegal and arbitrary. Thus, the action is set aside. All actions taken by the Governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. These Bills shall be deemed to be cleared from the date it was re-presented to the Governor," said the bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan. The court further noted that Governor Ravi had not acted in "good faith".


According to the bench, the Governor should have approved the Bills after they were passed again by the Assembly and re-submitted to him.


Article 200 of the Constitution outlines the Governor's options when a Bill passed by the state legislature is presented to him. The Governor can either give assent, withhold it, or reserve the Bill for the President's consideration. He may also return the Bill to the House for reconsideration of certain provisions. However, if the House passes it again, the Governor is bound to give his assent. A Governor can only reserve a Bill if he or she believes it contradicts the Constitution, the directive principles of state policy, or if it raises issues of national importance.


The court also introduced specific timelines for these decisions. It stated that any delay beyond these timeframes could be subjected to judicial review. Governors will now have a month to either give or withhold assent and to reserve the Bill for the President—with the advice of the Council of Ministers.


If the reservation is done without ministerial advice, the deadline is extended to three months. For Bills re-submitted after being passed again by the Assembly, the Governor must act within a month. The court affirmed that any use of power under Article 200 is subject to judicial scrutiny.


Clarifying its stance, the court stated it is "in no way undermining the Governor's powers". It added, "All actions of the Governor must align with the principle of parliamentary democracy."


RN Ravi, a former IPS officer and one-time official with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), assumed the post of Tamil Nadu Governor in 2021. Since then, his relationship with the MK Stalin-led government has remained strained. The DMK has accused him of behaving like a spokesperson for the BJP and obstructing legislative matters and appointments. Ravi, however, maintains that the Constitution allows him to withhold assent to Bills.


Tensions between the state government and Raj Bhavan have surfaced on multiple occasions, including during the Governor’s customary address to the Assembly. Last year, Governor Ravi walked out in protest because the National Anthem was not sung at the beginning of the address. Traditionally, the Tamil Thai Valthu is sung when the House convenes and the National Anthem at the end. Ravi objected, insisting that the national anthem should be played both at the beginning and end.


In 2023, he declined to deliver the customary address to the Assembly, claiming the draft contained "numerous passages with misleading claims far from truth". A year prior, he had refused to read sections of the speech that included mentions of BR Ambedkar, Periyar, CN Annadurai, the term 'Dravidian Model', and references to law and order in the state.

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