Governor - General Information and Discretionary Powers

Governor of India

The Part-VI of the Indian constitution has provisions about the State Executive under articles 153-167, which consist of :

1) Governor (Article 153)
2) Chief Minister (Article 163)
3) Council of Ministers (Article 163)
4) Advocate General of India (Article 165)

Points to remember :

1) Article 153 : Governor of States

2) Governor is the Chief executive head of the State government; only a constitutional, nominal, titular head of the state. Real powers lies in the hand of Chief Minister and his Council of Minsters, who are appointed to aid and advise Governor.

3) As per the provisions of 7th Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 1956, same person can be appointed as the Governor of two or more states.

4) Appointed by : President, with a warrant under his hand and seal, in consultation with Chief Minister of the state.
This means Governor acts as an agent of Central government but it is to be noticed that post of Governor is neither under the control of or subordinate to Central government.

It follows Canadian model where Governor of a province (State) is appointed by Governor-General (Centre).

5) Oath : administered by Chief Justice of the concerned state High Court.

6) Term : 5 years, holds office during the pleasure of President.
Holds office until successor assumes charge.

7) Resignation : Addressed to President

8) Can be reappointed by President for the 2nd term or tenure.

9) No specific conditions defined in the constitution under which a Governor can be removed by the President [most controversial point based on which governors are replaced whenever a new government is formed at the centre.]

Discretionary Powers :

There are two types of discretionary powers granted to Governor of India :
a) Constitutional Discretionary Powers
b) Situational Discretionary Powers

Constitutional Discretionary Powers:

Following are the Constitutional Discretionary Powers which are mentioned in Constitution of India :

1) Reserve a bill for President's consideration,

2) Recommend for imposition of emergency or President's rule in the state.

3) Decide the amount which need to be paid by the government of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura to Tribal District Council as royalaty for licence granted for mineral exploration.

4) Seek information from Chief Minister about the administrative and legislative matters of the state.

5) While exercising his function as an administrator of adjoining union territory (additional charge only).

Situational Discretionary Powers:

Following are the Situational Discretionary Powers:

1) If there is no clear-cut majority while appointment of Chief Minister of the state or if there is no obvious successor for the post of CM on sudden demise of Chief Minister.

2)  If council of ministers cannot prove the confidence of state legislative assembly, Governor can dismiss them on his discretion.

3) Dissolve state legislative assembly if council of ministers have lost its majority.


For more information about why the post of Governor is highly politized or controversial, refer below article : http://upscvidya.blogspot.com/2017/01/controversial-role-of-governor-in.html