Appointment to various Constitutional Posts, Powers, Functions and Responsibilities of various constitutional posts

Question 1

Governor Intro

Answer 1

1. The appointment and powers of government can be derived from Part VI of the Indian constitution. **Article 153 ** says that there shall be a Governor for each State.
   2.

Question 2

Functions of Governor

Answer 2

1. The governor acts in ‘Dual Capacity’ as the Constitutional head of the state and as the representative of the Centre.
2. He is the part of federal system of Indian polity and acts as a bridge between union and state governments.

Question 3

Issues

Answer 3

1. There are numerous examples of the Governor’s position being abused, usually at the behest of the ruling party at the Centre.
2. Governor’s discretionary powers to invite the leader of the largest party/alliance, post-election, to form the government has often been misused to favour a particular political party.
3. Due to such incidents, negative terms like an agent of the Centre, Puppet and rubber stamps are used to describe a governor of the state.

Question 4

Misuse of Governor’s power - Recommendations

Answer 4

1. The Supreme Court in the Nabam Rebia judgement (2016) ruled that the exercise of Governor’s discretion Article 163 is limited and his choice of action should not be arbitrary or fanciful. It must be a choice dictated by reason, actuated by good faith and tempered by caution.
2. The Administrative Reforms Commission (1968) recommended that the report of the governor regarding the president’s rule has to be objective and also the governor should exercise his own judgement in this regard.
3. The Rajamannar Committee (1971) recommended the deletion of Articles 356 and 357 from the constitution of India.
4. The Rajamannar Committee emphasised 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.
   5.

Question 5

Discretionary Power of Governor

Answer 5

Article 163: It talks about the discretionary power of governor.

Question 6

Art. 356 - Governor Suggestions

Answer 6

1. In S.R. Bommai case (1994), following the Sarkaria Commission’s recommendations, the Supreme Court underlined that the breakdown of constitutional machinery implied a virtual impossibility, and not a mere difficulty, in carrying out governance in a State
2. The Sarkaria Commission (1988) recommended that Article 356 should be used in very rare cases when it becomes unavoidable to restore the breakdown of constitutional machinery in the State.
3. “Justice V.Chelliah Commission” (2002) recommended that Article 356 must be used sparingly and only as a remedy of the last resort after exhausting all actions under Articles 256, 257 and 355.
4. SC said that while the subjective satisfaction of the President regarding such a breakdown was beyond judicial scrutiny, the material on which such satisfaction was based could certainly be analysed by the judiciary, including the Governor’s report.
5. 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.

It is suggested that the exercise of ‘discretionary powers’ by the Governors should be ‘guided by the healthy and democratic conventions’.

Question 7

Conclusion

Answer 7

1.In order to enable the governor to successfully discharge his functions under the constitution, an agreed ‘Code of Conduct’ approved by the state governments, the central government, the parliament, and the state legislatures should be evolved.
2. For the smooth functioning of a democratic government, it is equally important that the governor must act judiciously, impartially and efficiently while exercising his discretion and personal judgement.

Question 8

Governor Current Affairs - Kerala crisis

Answer 8

1. Faced with an unprecedented constitutional crisis following the Kerala Governor “sitting” on nine Bills passed by the State Legislature, the State government is all set to move the Supreme Court.
2. the government is left with no other option but to move the apex court
3. The State would argue that the Governor holding the Bills indefinitely would lead to the collapse of the parliamentary democracy system and derail the constitutional framework laid down for the governments to function.
4. The government feels that the Governor’s action went against Article 200 of the Constitution, which provided him the option of giving or withholding assent to a Bill or reserving it for the President’s consideration