The Governor: Appointment, Powers and Discretion

Position of the Governor

Part VI of the Constitution (Articles 152–237) deals with the states. The Governor is the chief executive head (nominal head) of a state and also acts as an agent of the Central government. This dual role is the source of most controversy about the office. Usually there is one Governor for each state, but the 7th Amendment (1956) permits the same person to be Governor of two or more states.

Appointment and tenure

• The Governor is neither directly elected nor indirectly elected by a special electoral college; he or she is appointed by the President by warrant under hand and seal (Article 155). The draft Constitution had proposed direct election; the Assembly chose nomination to avoid a clash between an elected Governor and an elected Chief Minister, and to keep the office non-partisan. This follows the Canadian model.
• In Hargovind Pant (1979) the Supreme Court held that the office of Governor is an independent constitutional office, not an employment under the Central government.
• Qualifications: citizen of India; at least 35 years old. Conventions (not law): the Governor should be an outsider with no links to the state, and the President should consult the Chief Minister before appointment. Both conventions have often been ignored.
• Conditions: cannot be a member of Parliament or a state legislature; cannot hold any office of profit; entitled to Raj Bhavan, emoluments fixed by Parliament; immunity from criminal proceedings during the term (Article 361).
• Oath is administered by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned.
• Term: five years, but the Governor holds office during the pleasure of the President and can be removed at any time without any ground stated. In B.P. Singhal (2010) the Supreme Court held that although the pleasure doctrine applies, removal cannot be arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable – a Governor cannot be removed merely because of a change of government at the Centre or for being out of sync with its policies. The decision is open to limited judicial review.

Powers

Executive powers: all executive actions of the state are taken in the Governor's name. The Governor appoints the Chief Minister and other ministers (who hold office during the Governor's pleasure), the Advocate General, the State Election Commissioner (removable only like a High Court judge), the chairman and members of the State Public Service Commission (removable only by the President), and the State Finance Commission; can seek information from the CM; can recommend President's rule under Article 356; acts as chancellor of state universities under state laws; and in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha the state must have a minister in charge of tribal welfare (Article 164(1), as amended by the 94th Amendment, 2006, which replaced Bihar with Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand).

Legislative powers: summons, prorogues and dissolves the assembly; addresses the legislature at the first session after each general election and the first session each year; nominates one-sixth of the members of the legislative council (from literature, science, art, co-operative movement and social service); decides on disqualification of MLAs in consultation with the Election Commission; promulgates ordinances (Article 213) when the legislature is not in session – subject to the same six-week rule, and to the President's instructions in certain cases; and lays reports of the State Finance Commission, State PSC and CAG (on state accounts) before the legislature.

Assent to bills (Article 200): when a bill passed by the state legislature is presented, the Governor can:

1. give assent;
2. withhold assent;
3. return the bill (if not a money bill) for reconsideration – if passed again, with or without amendments, the Governor must give assent;
4. reserve the bill for the consideration of the President. Reservation is obligatory where the bill would endanger the position of the High Court; it is optional where the bill is against the Constitution, DPSPs or the larger national interest, or concerns compulsory acquisition of property under Article 31A.

The Constitution prescribes no time limit. In State of Punjab v Principal Secretary to the Governor (2023) the Supreme Court held that a Governor who withholds assent must return the bill to the legislature – he cannot sit on it indefinitely. In State of Tamil Nadu v Governor of Tamil Nadu (April 2025) a two-judge bench held that the Governor's prolonged inaction on ten re-passed bills was illegal, used Article 142 to declare them deemed assented, and prescribed timelines (one to three months). On the President's reference under Article 143, a Constitution Bench in November 2025 opined that courts cannot impose fixed timelines or a concept of "deemed assent" on Governors and the President, though prolonged, unexplained and indefinite inaction can be subject to limited judicial review so that the Governor is directed to decide within a reasonable time.

Financial powers: the state budget is laid in the Governor's name; money bills need the Governor's prior recommendation; the Contingency Fund of the state is at the Governor's disposal; and the Governor constitutes the State Finance Commission every five years to review panchayat and municipal finances.

Judicial powers: pardoning power under Article 161 (but not for death sentences or court-martial cases); consulted by the President in appointing High Court judges; appoints district judges in consultation with the High Court.

Discretionary powers

Article 163 provides a Council of Ministers headed by the CM to aid and advise the Governor "except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions in his discretion", and the Governor's decision on what is discretionary is final. (There is no such express discretion for the President.)

Constitutional discretion: reserving a bill for the President; recommending President's rule; acting as administrator of an adjoining UT; determining the amount payable by Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to autonomous tribal district councils from mineral royalties (Sixth Schedule); seeking information from the CM; special responsibilities under Articles 371–371J (e.g. law and order in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh).

Situational discretion: appointing the CM when no party has a clear majority or when the incumbent dies suddenly; dismissing a ministry that cannot prove its majority; dissolving the assembly if the ministry has lost its majority.

In Nabam Rebia (2016) the Supreme Court held that the Governor's discretion is limited to the specific situations permitted by the Constitution; he cannot summon or advance the assembly session on his own, or act in matters of the legislature's internal working, against the advice of the Council of Ministers. In Shamsher Singh (1974) the Court had held that the Governor acts on ministerial advice except in matters of specified discretion.

The debate: an agent of the Centre?

Criticism: appointment of active politicians, transfers and removals with changes in the Centre, partisan role in government formation (several controversies over who should be invited to form the government), delays in assent, and friction over university appointments. Recommendations: Sarkaria Commission – an eminent person from outside the state, not active in politics recently, appointed after consulting the CM, with a fixed tenure; Punchhi Commission – a fixed five-year tenure, removal only by impeachment by the state legislature, and no role as chancellor of universities; Venkatachaliah Commission (NCRWC, 2002) – similar ideas, with consultation of the CM. Several states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab) have passed laws to remove the Governor as chancellor of state universities.

Practice: Mains question

*"The office of Governor has become a flashpoint of Centre–state friction." Examine the constitutional position and suggest reforms. (250 words)* Use Articles 153–163, 200 and 356; cases – Shamsher Singh, Bommai, Rameshwar Prasad, B.P. Singhal, Nabam Rebia, the 2023 Punjab and 2025 Tamil Nadu judgments, and the 2025 advisory opinion; and reforms from Sarkaria, Punchhi and NCRWC.

Common traps

• Oath by the Chief Justice of the High Court; Governor's pardoning power excludes death sentence pardon.
• Governor nominates one-sixth of MLC seats; the President nominates 12 Rajya Sabha members.
• The Governor has express discretion under Article 163; the President has none.
• B.P. Singhal (2010): removal cannot be arbitrary.