Governor

Provision for state governance has been made in Part – 6 of the Constitution.

The executive of the state is headed by the governor.  He uses it directly or through subordinate officers.

Each state has a governor but the same governor can be appointed as the governor of two or more states.

The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of 5 years but it holds office during the President’s offerings.  [Article 156 (1)] The Governor takes the oath of office before the Chief Justice of the High Court or the senior-most Judge before assuming office.

The Governor submits his resignation to the President.  The salary of the governor is 3, 50, 000 Rupees monthly.

If two or more states have the same governor, then the salary of both the governors will be given in this ratio as the President determines.

It is necessary to have the following qualifications in a person to be appointed to the post of Governor

1. They are citizens of India.
2. He has completed the age of 35 years.
3. Do not hold any kind of office.
4. He should be eligible to be elected a member of the State Legislative Assembly.

 Governor’s Immunities and privileges:

1. He is not liable to any court for the exercise of the powers of his office and the performance of duties.
2. During the term of the Governor, no criminal action can be initiated against him in any court.
3. When he is in office, the order of his arrest cannot be issued by any court.
4. Before or after assuming the office of the Governor, it has to give two months’ notice before taking any civil action in relation to the work done by it.

 Powers and functions of the Governor:

1. Executive related functions:

(a) All the executive functions of the state are done in the name of the Governor.

(b) The Governor appoints the Chief Minister as well as the members of his Council of Ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister and administered them the oath of office and secrecy.

(c) The Governor appoints high officials of the state such as – Advocate General, Chairman and Member of State Public Service Commission.

Note: The Governor cannot remove members of the State Public Service.  The members of the Commission can be removed by the President only on the report of the Supreme Court if directed by the President and if there are some disqualifications.  (Article – 317)

(d) Advises the President on the appointment of judges in the High Court of the State [Article – 217 (1)]

(e) The Governor has the right to seek information from the Chief Minister regarding the administration of the state.

(f) The Governor runs the administration of the state as an agent of the Central Government at the time of President’s rule.

(g) The Governor is the Chancellor of the State Universities and also appoints the Vice-Chancellors.

He appoints 1/6 of the total members of the state legislative council, which is related to science, literature, art, social service, cooperative movement etc.  [Article – 171 (5)].Co-operative movement is not included in the current list related to Rajya Sabha.

2. Legislative Rights:

(a) The Governor is an integral part of the Legislature.  (Article – 164)

(b) The Governor inaugurates the Legislature  and dissolves it.  The Governor addresses the session of the Legislative Assembly or the Joint Session of the two Houses.

(c) If a question of disqualification arises on a member of the State Legislative Assembly, the Governor decides the disqualification dispute in consultation with the Election Commission.

(d) A bill passed by the state legislature becomes an act only after the Governor’s signature.

(e) If the Anglo-Indian community is not adequately represented in the Legislative Assembly, the Governor can nominate a person from that community as a member of the Legislative Assembly.  Article – 333

(f) When the Legislature is not in session and the Governor feels that immediate action is required, he may issue an ordinance which has the same place as an Act passed by the Legislature.  Such ordinances must be approved by the Legislature within 6 weeks.  If the Legislature does not approve it within 6 weeks, then the validity of that ordinance ceases.

(g) The Governor may send a bill to the State Legislature for reconsideration except Money Bill, but it is obliged to give its assent to it once it is re-passed by the State Legislature.  (h) The Governor may reserve a bill for the consideration of the President.  This reserved bill will be effective only if the President grants it permission.  The Governor is required to reserve the Bill for the President at a time when the Bill supersedes the powers of the High Court.  If the bill becomes law then the constitutional position of the High Court will be threatened.

3. Financial Rights:

(a) The Governor asks the Finance Minister of the state to present the annual financial statement before the Legislature in every financial year.

(b) Money Bill is introduced in the Legislative Assembly with the prior permission of the Governor.

(c) Any such bill which arranges to withdraw expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State cannot be passed by the Legislature until the Governor recommends it.

(d) No demand for grant can be placed before the Legislature without the recommendation of the Governor.

4. Judicial authority: The Governor may pardon, delay, stop or abate any punishment. This will be in relation to a person who has been convicted of an offense under a law regarding which the executive power of the state is expanded. (Article 161)

Note: The President has the power to grant pardon in all types of death-sentence cases while the Governor does not have such power in the case of death sentence. Similarly, the President has the power to grant pardon in the case of an army-court (court-martial) sentence.  While the Governor does not have such power.

5. Emergency power: When the Governor realizes that circumstances have arisen in which the rule of the state cannot be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, then he can send a report to the President (Article 356) saying that the President take all or any of the functions of governance of the state on its own (this is generally called President’s rule.)

Governor’s position: If we look at the above rights of the Governor, it seems that the Governor is a very powerful officer.  But the reality is completely different from this.  We have adopted a system of parliamentary governance in which the Council of Ministers is responsible to the Legislature.  Therefore, the real powers come to the Council of Ministers and not to the Governor.  The Governor acts as a constitutional head but in exceptional circumstances, he may get opportunities to work at will.

Lieutenant Governor: Delhi, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Administrator: Daman Diu Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep.

Note: ‘The Governor of Punjab is the Administrator of Chandigarh along with his responsibilities.

In 1965, the name of the SADAR-E-RISAYAT state of J&K was changed to ‘Governor’.