Governor in India: Constitutional Position- Functions- Legislative and Judicial Power- Controversies-Power related to Bills

 Governor of a State is like a Bridge who maintains a Harmony between Centre and State and Uphold the Principle of Federalism

In this Article you will going to have a brief idea about the Constitutional position of Governor, Functions, Powers, Recent Crisis etc. The Constituent Assembly during Constitution formulation decided to give Constitutional position to the Governor of the States. Article 153 to 167 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the State Executive. The State Executive consists of the Governor, the Chief Minister, the Council of Minister and the Advocate General of State.

Constitutional Position of Governor:

-Under Article 154, the Executive Power of the State shall be vested in the Governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers Subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution.

-Under Article 163, There shall be a Council of Minister with the Chief Minister as the Head to aid and advice the Governor in the Exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise his function in his discretion.

Governor is the chief Executive head of the state as well as acts as an agent of the Govt at Centre. We may say here that the logic behind the office of Governor is to enable the Centre Govt to maintain its control over the States. He/she is appointed solely by the President of India. In one of the Ruling Supreme Court has clearly ruled that the Governor has no security of tenure and also no fixed term of office he/she can be removed by the President at any time. The oath of office to the Governor is administered by the chief Justice of the State's High Court and in absence, the senior most judge of the court can complete the oath ceremony. In case of temporary absence of the Governor, the Chief Justice of the State High Court may be appointed temporarily to act as the Governor of the state. According to the Supreme Court rulings, the office of governor is an Independent Constitutional Office and is not under the Control of or subordinate to the Central Govt.

Functions of the Governor:

He appoints the Chief Minister of the State along with other Ministers as they hold office during his pleasure. Each and Every Executive actions of the State is formally done by his Name, to uphold the accountability of govt actions in the Judiciary, governor also appoints Advocate General of State and he/she holds the office during the pleasure of the Governor. The Governor can seek any information relating to the Administration and proposal for Legislation from the CM of the state.He acts as the Chancellor of the Universities in the State and also appoints the Vice-Chancellors of the State Universities. If there is Failure of Constitutional Machinery or State is not willing to abide by the directions of Central Govt, the Governor can recommend for the imposition of President's Rule in the State. During President's Rule almost all powers of Administration is vested at the hands of Governor.

Legislative Power of the Governor:

-The Governor has the power to Summon, Prorogue or Dissolve the House of the Legislative Assembly of the State.

-The Governor has to address the State Legislature at the beginning of the first session after each General Election and at the First session of each year.

-He has the power to nominate one-sixth of the Members of the State Legislative Council form amongst persons with special knowledge or practical experience in Literature, Science, Arts, Cooperative Movements and Social Services.

-After passing of a Bill from State Legislature, Bill is sent for the Governor's approval, he can-

#Give his assent, or 

#Withhold his assent, or

#Return the Bill(if it is not Money Bill) for the reconsideration of State Legislature. However, if the Bill is passed again by the State Legislature with or without amendments, the governor has to give his assent to the Bill, or

#Reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President.

-The Governor can Promulgate and withdraw Ordinances when the State Legislature is not in session. However, these Ordinances must be approved by the State Legislature within six weeks from the reassembly.

-He can make advances out of the Contingency Fund of the State to meet any unforseen expenditure and also without the prior recommendation of the Governor no Money Bill can be introduced in the State Legislature.

Judicial Power of the Governor:

The Governor has the power to make appointments, postings and promotions of the District Judges in consultation with the State High Court, he can grants pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of the punishment or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any Law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.

Recent Controversies:

-In 2019, the then Governor of the Jammu & Kashmir refused to form a coalition govt led by alliance between NC(National Conference) and PDP(Peoples Democratic Party). He cited the reason for refusal that both the Parties have opposite political ideology. Later Central Govt led by NDA revoked the special status of the state by abrogating Article 370 and 35A of the Constitution.

-In 2019, there was no single party to prove majority in the General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra, the Governor of the State called BJP to form the Govt but it did not able to prove the majority and a political crisis was generated in the state. President's Rule was imposed and later revoked as the MVA(Maha Vikash Aghadi) was successful to form the govt.

-Recently Governor of the Uttar Pradesh has passed 'UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance,2020' to prohibit the inter-faith marriages done by using Force, Fraud, Allurement etc. Many Political experts and former bureaucrats raised objection by citing that the Ordinance is against the Fundamental Right to the Privacy.

-Frequent interference by the Governor of Kerala in the functioning of the State Govt, actually he had questioned a resolution passed by Kerala Assembly on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, he refused to convene a special session of Kerala Assembly in Dec, 2020. Expert has said it is clear encroachment upon the power of the State Legislature. 

References-

Indian Polity by Laxmikant

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