Appointment of Governor

 

About

·       Articles 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 ministers and the advocate general of the state.

·       The governor is neither directly elected by the people nor indirectly elected by a specially constituted electoral college as is the case with the president.

·       He is appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal. In a way, he is a nominee of the Central government. But, as held by the Supreme Court in 1979, the office of governor of a state is not an employment under the Central government.

·       The governors are appointed for a term of five years.

·       It is an independent constitutional office and is not under the control of or subordinate to the Central government.

·       Usually, there is a governor for each state, but the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.

·       Constituent Assembly dropped the American model, where the Governor of a state is directly elected, and accepted the Canadian model, where the governor of a province (state) is appointed by the Governor-General (Centre).

Why Constituent Assembly opted for the system of appointment of governor by the president?

·       The direct election of the governor is incompatible with the parliamentary system established in the states.

·       The mode of direct election is more likely to create conflicts between the governor and the chief minister.

·       The governor being only a constitutional head, there is no point in making elaborate arrangements for his election and spending money.

·       An elected governor would naturally belong to a party and would not be a neutral person and an impartial head.

·       The election of governor would create separatist tendencies and thus affect the political stability and unity of the country.

Qualification for appointment

·       He should be a citizen of India.

·       He should have completed the age of 35 years.

·       He should not belong to the state where he is appointed, which mean he should be an outsider, so that he is free from the local politics. (Recommended by Sarkaria commission in the year 1988)

·       The president is required to consult the chief minister of the state concerned, while appointing the governor.

·       He should not be a member of the either house of the parliament or house of the state legislature.

·       He should not hold any office of profit.