Appointment of the Governor
Q. Which of the following is/are true regarding the appointment of the Governor?
1) Feature of appointing the Governor has been taken from the Irish Constitution.
2) Constitution provides only 2 qualifications for a person who can be appointed as a Governor.- Published on 06 Mar 17a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
ANSWER: Only 2
- Pattern of government in the states is similar to that of the Centre.
- Part 6 of the Constitution, dealing with government of the states, is not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir (it has separate state constitution).
- Articles 153 to 167 in Part 6 of the Constitution deal with the State Executive.
- The state executive consists of the Governor, the Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers and the Advocate General of the state.
- The office of governor has a dual role - as an agent of the Central Government and as Chief Executive head of the state.
- However, he is a nominal executive head (titular or constitutional head).
- The 7th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.
Appointment -
- The governor is not elected.
- He is appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal.
- Appointing the Governor by the President is a feature adopted from the Canadian Constitution.
- He is sort of a nominee of the Central Government.
- But, as observed by Supreme Court in 1979, the office of governor of a state is not an employment under the Central government.
- It is an independent constitutional office.
- It is not under the control of or subordinate to the Central Government.
Constituent Assembly chose for the present system of appointment of because -
- The mode of direct election can create conflicts between the Governor and the Chief Minister.
- Being only a constitutional (nominal) head, there is no point in making arrangements for his election and spending huge amount of money.
- The election of a Governor would be entirely on personal issues.
- An elected Governor would belong to a party and would not be a neutral and an impartial head.
- The election of Governor would create separatist tendencies and thus affect the political stability and unity of the country.
- Presidential nomination helps the Centre to maintain its control over the states.
- The direct election of the Governor creates a serious problem of leadership during general election in the state.
- The Chief Minister would like his nominee to contest for governorship.
- Thus, a lesser than best man of the ruling party would be elected as Governor.
Qualifications in Constitution for the appointment of a person as a governor -
- He should be a citizen of India.
- He should have completed the age of 35 years.
- In addition to this, 2 conventions have also developed.
- One is that he should bean outsider, that is, he should not belong to the state where he is appointed.
- This makes him free from the local politics.
- Second is that while appointing the Governor, the President is needed to consult the Chief Minister of the state concerned.
- This will ensure that the constitutional machinery in the state functions smoothly.
