President Droupadi Murmu Appoints New Governors For Nine States

Recently, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Governors for Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Assam, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh 

Appointment and Role of Governors in Indian States

• Article 153 of the Indian Constitution: It says “There shall be a Governor for each State.” 
  • Appointment for two or more states: An amendment in 1956 laid down that “nothing in this article shall prevent the appointment of the same person as Governor for two or more States” 
• Method of appointment: He is neither elected directly by the people nor indirectly elected by a specially constituted electoral college.
  • According to Article 155, He is the central nominee, appointed by the President by warrant under his seal.
• Canadian Model: The governor of a province (state) is appointed by the Governor-General (Centre).
  • India adopted the Canadian Model of appointment of Governor by the center.
• Origins in GOI Act 1935: The Institution of Governor borrowed from GOI Act 1935.
• 7th CAA (1956): Facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.
• Supreme Court (Hargovind Pant Case, 1979): Office of the governor of a state is not an employment under the Central government. 
  • It is an Independent constitutional office, not under the control of or subordinate nor an employment under the Central government.
• Draft Constitution: Provided for the direct election of the governor on the basis of universal adult suffrage.
• Limitations on Governor’s Powers: Governor has no diplomatic, military or emergency powers like the president.

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Qualifications and Conditions of Office for Governors in Indian States

• Constitutional Provisions: Articles 157 and 158 lay down the qualifications of the Governor and the conditions of his office.
  • Citizen of India.
  • Completed 35 years of age.
• Two  Conventions:
  • Preferably an ‘Outsider’ and should not belong to the state where he is appointed.
  • While appointing the governor, the president is required to consult the CM of the state concerned.
    • However, both the conventions have been violated in some of the cases.
• Oath (Article 159): Oath administered by the Chief Justice of HC of the concerned state and in his absence, the senior-most judge of that court.
• Condition of Office: Not a member of either house and not hold any other office of profit.
• Emoluments, Allowances and Privileges
  • Determined by Parliament.
  • Cannot be diminished during his term of office. 
  • Immune from criminal proceedings (even if personal) 
  • Cannot be arrested or imprisoned.
  • 2 Month’s notice in civil proceedings during term of office in respect of his personal acts.
  • When appointed as Governor of two or more states, allowances shared by the states in such proportion as determined by the president.
  • Enjoys personal immunity from legal liability for his official acts.

Governor’s Term and Contingency Provisions in Indian States

• Term: Under Article 156 says that the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. But his normal term of office will be five years.
  • Surya Narain Case (1981): Pleasure of the President is not justifiable. 
    • So, no security of tenure and no fixed term of Office.
• Central government Role : President acts on the aid and advice of the Prime Minister and the Union Council of Ministers, in effect, the Governor is appointed and removed by the central government.
• Resignation: To President.
• Transfer: The President may transfer a Governor appointed to one state to another state for the rest of the term.
• Reappointed: Maybe in the same state or any other state.
• Hold office beyond his term until his successor assumes charge to prevent ‘Interregnum’
• Contingency Provision: The President can make such provision as he thinks fit for the discharge of the functions of the governor in any contingency not provided for in the Constitution.
• Removal: The Constitution does not lay down any grounds upon which a governor may be removed by the President. 

Powers and Functions of Governors in Indian States

• Veto Power
  • For ordinary bills, the governor has four alternatives:
    • He may give his assent to the bill.
    • He may withhold his assent to the bill, the bill then ends.
    • He may return a bill for reconsideration of the Houses. 
      • If the bill is passed by both Houses again with or without amendments and presented to the governor for his assent, the governor must give his assent to the bill. the governor enjoys only a ‘suspensive veto’.
    • He may reserve the bill for the consideration of the President.
  • Governor can also reserve a bill if it is: 
    • Endangers the position of the state high court; 
    • Against provisions of the Constitution; 
    • Opposed to the DPSP; Against the larger interest of the country, and of grave national importance; Compulsory acquisition of property.
  • When the governor reserves a money bill for the consideration of the President, he will not have any further role in the enactment of the bill. 
    • The President may give his assent or may withhold his assent but he can not return the state money bill.
    • If the President gives his assent to the bill, it becomes an Act. This means that the assent of the governor is no longer required.
• Legislative Powers
  • Governor is an integral part of the State legislature.
  • Summons, prorogues, and dissolves the State Legislative Assembly.
  • Address the state legislature at the commencement of the first session after each general election and the first session of each year.  
  • Send messages to the house or houses of the state legislature, with respect to a bill pending in the legislature or otherwise.
  • Appoint any member of the State legislative assembly/council to preside over its proceedings when the offices of both the Speaker/chairman and the Deputy Speaker/deputy chairman  fall vacant. 
    • Similarly, he can appoint any member of the state legislature council to preside over its proceedings,  when the offices of both Chairman and Deputy Chairman fall vacant.
  • Nominates: 1/6 members in the State Council.
  • Decides on the question of disqualification of members of the state legislature in consultation with the Election Commission.
  • Lays the reports of State Finance Commission, SPSC and CAG before the state legislature. 
  • Promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is not in session (must be approved by the state legislature within six weeks from its reassembly).

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• Judicial Powers
  • Judges of High Court: Consulted by the president while appointments of judges of HC.
  • District Judges: Makes appointments, postings and promotions of the district judges in consultation with the state high court.
  • Others: Appoint persons to the judicial service of the state other than the district judge in consultation with the state high court and the SPSC.
  • Pardoning Powers: He/she can grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishment or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offense against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.
• Governor’s Discretionary Power
  • According to the Constitution, if there is any doubt about whether a matter falls within the governor’s discretion, the governor’s decision is final and cannot be challenged based on whether they should or should not have exercised their discretion.
  • Constitutional Discretion
    • Reservation of Bills for the President’s consideration. 
    • Recommendations for President’s Rule.
    • Administration of adjoining UT.
    • Seeking information from the Chief Minister regarding administrative and legislative policies.
    • Determining the amount payable by the Govt of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to an autonomous Tribal District Council (6th scheduled areas) as royalty accruing from licenses for mineral exploration.
  • Situational Discretion
    • Appointment of the Chief Minister when no party has a clear-cut majority in the state legislative assembly or when the chief minister in office dies suddenly, and there is no obvious successor.
    • Dismissal of the council of ministers when it cannot prove the confidence of the state legislative assembly.
    • Dissolution of the state legislative assembly if the council of ministers has lost its majority.

Issues Related To Governor

• Arbitrary removal: The arbitrary removal of the Governor before the expiration of his tenure has also been an important issue in the recent past.
• Rehabilitative appointments: The position has been reduced to becoming a retirement package for politicians for being politically faithful to the government of the day.
• Abuse of position: There are various examples of the Governor’s position being abused, usually by the ruling party at the Centre.
• Misuse of discretionary powers: Governor’s discretionary powers to invite the leader of the largest party /alliance to form the government has often been misused.
• Partisanship Role: Recently, the Governor of Rajasthan has been charged with the violation of the model code of conduct. His support of the ruling party is against the spirit of non-partisanship that is expected from the person sitting on constitutional posts.
• Misuse of power under Art. 356: The imposition of President’s rule (Art.356) in case of breakdown of constitutional machinery in a State has been frequently misused by the central government.
• Mere rubber stamp or puppet: Governor is bound by the aid and advice of his council of ministers.

Recommendations Of Sarkaria Commission

• Related to Article 356:
  • Art. 356 should be used in very rare cases when it becomes unavoidable to restore the breakdown of constitutional machinery in the State. It should be used as a matter of last resort.
  • Before taking action under Art. 356, a warning should be issued to the state government that it is not functioning according to the constitution.
• Related to Governor:
  • Governors should be appointed in consultation with the Chief Minister of the State, Vice-President of India and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
  • His tenure of office must be guaranteed and should not be disturbed except for extremely compelling reasons.
  • Criteria for selection of Governor:
    • He should be eminent in some walk of life. 
    • He should be a person from outside the State.
    • He should be a detached figure and not too intimately connected with the local politics of the State. 
    • He should be a person who has not taken too great a part in politics generally and particularly in the recent

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• Related to appointment of CM:
  • If there is a single party having an absolute majority in the Assembly, the leader of the party should automatically be asked to become the Chief Minister.
  • In the absence of such a party, the Governor shall choose a CM by holding hearings with each of the following parties or groups of parties in the order of preference listed below:
    • An alliance of parties that was formed prior to the Elections.
    • The Largest Single Party staking a claim to form the government with the support of others, including independents.
    • A post-electoral coalition with all partners joining the government.
    • A post-electoral alliance with some parties joining the government and the remaining supporting from outside
• Others:
  • When the President withholds his assent to the state bills, the reasons should be communicated to the state government.
  • The procedure of consulting the chief minister in the appointment of the state governor should be prescribed in the Constitution itself.
  • The Governor cannot dismiss the council of ministers so long as it commands a majority in the assembly

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