Governor and Chief Minister: The conflict

Governor and Chief Minister: The conflict

Subject :Polity

Issue : recently we have seen the difference of opinion regarding many things between chief minister and the governor leading to sometimes major constitutional crisis.

Governor:

Article 155. Appointment of Governor: The Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.

How is the Governor related to the States?

• The governor acts as the nominal head whereas the real power lies with the Chief Minister of the state.
• While the President of India is “elected“, the governor is “selected” by the incumbent central government.
• Governor is the constitutional head of the state as well as the vital link between the Union and State government.

What are the discretionary powers of the Governor?

• Article 163– There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except the discretion granted by the Constitution.
• If any question arises whether a matter is within the Governor’s discretion or not, the Governor’s decision shall be final.
• The discretionary power of the Governor is wider than that of the President as he enjoys both the constitutional as well as situational discretionary power unlike the President who enjoys only situationary discretion.

Constitutional discretionary powers

• Article 167– The Governor can seek information from the chief minister about state administrative and legislative matters
• Article 200– The Governor can reserve a Bill for President’s consideration
• Article 356– The Governor can recommend the President to impose President’s rule on failure of constitutional machinery
• The Governor is not bound to act on the aid and advice of CM and council of ministers while performing his duties as the administrator of a neighbouring union territory (in case of additional charge).
• Sixth schedule– The Governor may determine the amount payable to an autonomous Tribal District Council as royalty from mineral exploration licences by the governments of Sixth Schedule areas (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram)

Situational discretionary powers

• During Hung Assembly– The Governor can appoint chief minister when no party has a clear-cut majority
• No-confidence– The Governor can dismiss the council of ministers when it cannot prove the confidence of the state legislative assembly
• The Governor can dissolve the state legislative assembly when the council of ministers lose their majority
• Appointment of caretaker government– The Governor can appoint the care taker government for a temporary period until a regular government is elected or formed.
• Special provisions with respect to States– The President may provide special responsibility for the Governor to form separate development boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada, Saurashtra and Kutch, as per Article 371.

Has any efforts been taken to solve the conflict between governor and Chief minister ?

The Administrative Reforms Commission (1968)

• President’s rule- It recommended that the report of the governor regarding the President’s rule has to be objective and also the governor should exercise his own judgment in this regard.

Rajamannar Committee (1971)

• Role of Governor- The Rajamannar Committee stressed that the Governor of the state should not consider himself as an agent of the centre but play his role as the constitutional head of the State.

Sarkaria Commission recommendations- 1983

• Hung assembly- It provided the order of preference the Governor should follow in selecting a CM in such a situation
• An alliance of parties that was formed prior to the elections.
• The single largest party staking a claim to form the government with the support of others, including independents.
• A post-electoral coalition of parties, with all the partners in the coalition joining the government.
• A post-electoral alliance of parties, with some of the parties in the alliance forming a government and the remaining parties, including independents, supporting the government from outside.
• Appointment of Governor– CM should be consulted in the Governor’s appointment.
• Dismissal of Council of Ministers- The Governor cannot dismiss the Council of ministers when it commands a majority.

S.R. Bommai Judgment (1994)

• President’s rule- The Supreme Court classified the instances of failure of constitutional machinery into four heads- Political crises, Internal subversion, Physical breakdown, Non-compliance with constitutional directions of the Union Executive
• The verdict allows the Supreme Court to investigate claims of malafide in the Governor’s report.

Punchhi Commission recommendations (2007)

• The Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations said that the governor should invite the leader of “a pre-poll alliance commanding the largest number” or the “largest single party” to form the government in case no party or pre-poll coalition has a clear majority.