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Governor, Chief Minister & Council of Ministers

Sarojini Naidu was the first female to become the governor of an Indian
state. She governed Uttar Pradesh from 15 August 1947 to 2 March 1949.

Her daughter, Padmaja Naidu, was the longest-serving female governor with
11-year tenure in West Bengal.

Tamilisai Soundararajan is the recent most appointment as the first female

governor of Telangana.

Sucheta Kripalani was the first Chief Minister of any Indian State.
She was CM of Uttar Pradesh from 2 October 1963 – 13 March 1967

Important Articles -office of Governor

153 - Governors of states

154 - Executive power of the state

155 - Appointment of Governor

156 - Term of office of Governor

157 - Qualifications for the appointment as the Governor

158 - Conditions of the Governor’s office

159 – Governor’s Oath or Affirmation

160- Discharge of the functions of the Governor in certain contingencies.

161 - Power of the Governor to grant pardons and others

163 – Aid and Advice by the Council of Ministers to the Governor
164- Other provisions related to ministers such as tenure, appointment and
salary etc.

165 - Advocate-General for the state

166- Conduct of business of the State Government

167- Duties of CM in relation with furnishing information to Governor

174-Sessions of the State Legislature, prorogation and dissolution.

175- Right of Governor to address and send messages to the House or Houses

176- Special address by the Governor.

200 - Assent to bills (i.e. assent of the Governor to the bills passed by the state
legislature)

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201 - Bills reserved by the Governor for consideration of the President

213 – Governor’s power to promulgate ordinances
217 – Consultation of Governor by the President in the matter of the
appointments of the judges of the High Courts
233- Appointment of District Judges by the Governor

Governor of States (Article 153-167)

The Governor is the De Jure executive head at the state level. His position is
analogous to that of the President at the center.

Article 155: The Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President by

warrant under his hand and seal.

Qualifications:

As per article 157, to be appointed as the Governor of any state or two or more
states as a person;
(a) Should be a citizen of India,
(b) And should have attained 35 years of age.

Conditions of office (Article 158)

(1) The Governor shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a

House of the Legislature of any State specified in the First Schedule, and if a
member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any
such State be appointed Governor, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat
in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as Governor.

(2) The Governor shall not hold any other office of profit.

(3) The Governor shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of his
official residences and shall be also entitled to such emoluments, allowances and
privileges as may be determined by Parliament by law and, until provision in that
behalf is so made, such emoluments, allowances and privileges as are specified
in the Second Schedule.

(3A) Where the same person is appointed as Governor of two or more

States, the emoluments and allowances payable to the Governor shall be
allocated among the States in such proportion as the President may by order
determine.

As per the 7th Amendment 1956, a provision making it possible to appoint the
same person as Governor for two or more States has been added to article 153.

(4) The emoluments and allowances of the Governor shall not be diminished
during his term of office.

Like the President, the governor is also entitled to a number of immunities and
privileges. During his term of office, he is immune from any criminal
proceedings, even in respect of his personal acts.

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Oath
As per Article 159, the oath - is administered by the Governor by the chief
justice of the corresponding state high court and in case he is absent, the
senior-most judge of that particular court.

(Tenure of the Governor)

A governor holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he
enters upon his office. Article 156(3)

Article 156 (1) He holds office until the pleasure of the President

According to article 156 (2), the Governor can give his resignation to the
President.

He can again be appointed to the post of Governor.

Executive Powers

• All executive actions of the government of a state are formally taken in his
name. He appoints the chief minister and other ministers. They also hold
office during his pleasure.
• He appoints the advocate general of a state and determines his
remuneration. The advocate general holds office during the pleasure of
the governor.
• He appoints the state election commissioner. However, the state election
commissioner can be removed only in the manner and on the grounds as
a judge of a High Court.
• He appoints the chairman and members of the state public service
commission. However, they can be removed only by the president and not
by a governor.
• The Governor appoints the Vice Chancellors of those universities, being
the Chancellor of State universities.

Legislative Powers

• Governor is an integral part of the state legislature. He summons or

prorogues the state legislature and dissolve the state legislative assembly.
• He addresses the first session of the Legislative Assembly.
• He nominates one-sixth of the members of the state legislative council.
He can nominate one member to the state legislative assembly from the
Anglo-Indian Community.
• The Governor can withhold the assent to bills, return the bills for
reconsideration (if they’re not money bills), and even reserve the bills for
consideration by the President.
• He can promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is not in
session. Any such ordinance must be approved by the state legislature

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within 6 weeks from its reassembly. He can also withdraw such ordinance
anytime. (A 213).

Financial Powers:

• With permission of Governor Budget is laid before State Legislative

Assembly.
• He controls contingency Fund.
• Money bills can be introduced in the state legislature only with his prior
recommendation.

Judicial Powers:

• He is consulted by the president while appointing the judges of the

concerned state high court.
• The judges of subordinate courts of the High Court are appointed by the
Governor.
• He can grant pardons, reprieves, respites, and remissions of punishment
or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of
any offense against any law relating to a matter to which the executive
power of the state extends (Article 161).

Special powers of Governors

• No criminal proceedings can be initiated in any court during the governor's

term.

• Arrest order cannot be issued against him by any court while he is in office.

• The Governor is not liable to any court for the exercise of the powers and
duties of his office.

Emergency Powers of the Governor

• Reports to the President if the State Government is not running constitutionally

and recommends the President’s Rule (Article 356).

• When the President’s Rule is in progress, he becomes the Agent of the Union
Government in the State’.

• He takes over the functioning of administration directly into his own hands and
runs the State with the aid of the Civil Servants.

Conventions
1. Candidate should not belong to the state where he has to be appointed as
Governor so that he is free from the local politics.
2. President should consult the Chief Minister of the state concerned while
appointing Governor, so that the smooth functioning of the constitutional
machinery in the state is ensured.

Sarkaria Commission suggested that:

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• CM should be consulted while appointing the Governor.

• No governor will be allowed to be appointed to any post in the center or
the state after he retires from his post, nor will he be able to return to
active politics.
• Active politician shouldn’t be appointed.
• Removal should be difficult.
• The tenure of governors should be 5 years and during this period the
governor should not change.
• No need to remove the post of Governor.

Bommai Judgment 1994

Before imposing President's rule, the state government should be given a chance
to prove its majority.

Punchhi Commission on Center-State Relations

Recommendations included fixing the Governor's term for 5 years, impeachment

by the State Legislature for its removal. Chief Ministers of the states should also
be consulted in their selection.

President vs Governor

• Both the President and the Governor have the powers to pardon the sentence,
but the Governor has no power with respect to the death penalty and the pardon
of the sentence given by a military court.

• The President is elected, while the Governor is appointed by the President.

• The President is the head of all the three services and has military powers
while the Governor does not have any power related to the army.

• The President is the constitutional head while the Governor acts as a

constitutional link between the Centre and the State under the federal system.

• The President has diplomatic powers such as declaring peace or war,

appointing ambassadors in another country, etc. But the Governor has no such
power.

Chief Minister and State Council of Ministers

• The position of Chief Minister at the State level is analogous to the

position of the Prime Minister at the Centre.
• According to Article 164 in the Indian Constitution, Governor appoints
Chief Minister.
• A leader of the party that has got the majority share of votes in the
assembly elections, is appointed as the Chief Minister of the state.
• Chief Minister is the real executive authority (de facto executive). He is
the head of the government.

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• A person who is not a member of State Legislature can be appointed as

Chief Minister but he has to get himself elected within 6 months,
otherwise he is removed.
• A member of either House of state legislature belonging to any political
party who is disqualified on the ground of defection shall also be
disqualified to be appointed as a minister. This provision was added by the
91st Amendment Act, 2003.
• The total strength of the number of ministers, including the C.M, in the
state’s Council of Ministers should not exceed 15 percent of the total
strength of the legislative assembly of that state. However, the number of
ministers, including the C.M, in a state should also not be less than 12.
This provision was added by the 91st Amendment Act of 2003.
• Chief Minister is appointed by Governor and other ministers are appointed
by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.
• The Chief Minister is the chief link between the Governor and the
Council of Ministers.
• It is he who keeps the Governor informed of all decisions of the
Council of Ministers.
• If CM resigns, entire ministry resigns.

• State Council of Ministers

State Council of Ministers are similar to Union Council of Ministers.
The state council is headed by the Chief Minister. The council comprises
ministers appointed by the governor on the recommendation of the CM.
• Governor appoints a tribal affairs minister for the following states:
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Bihar was also one

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of the states to have tribal affairs minister, however, 94th Amendment Act
2006 freed Bihar from this obligation.
• The size of the council is not mentioned in the Indian Constitution
• The provision of collective responsibility is dealt with by Article 164.

Special Responsibilities of Governor

Article 371 gives the power to the President of India to establish separate
development boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada regions of Maharashtra and the
rest of the State and Saurashtra, Kutch and rest of Gujarat.

Article 371(A), No act of Parliament shall apply to Nagaland in respect to the

religious or social practices of the Nagas, its customary law and procedure,
administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga
customary law and ownership and transfer of land and its resources.

Article 371(B), deals with special provision with respect to the State of Assam.
President may provide for the constitution of a committee of the
Assembly consisting of members elected from the tribal areas of the state.

Article 371(C) the President may provide for the constitution and functions of a
committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Manipur State consisting of
members of that Assembly elected from the Hill Areas of that state, for the
modifications to be made in the rules of business of the Government.
Governor of the state must submit an annual report to the president regarding
the administration of hill areas as of the state.

Article 371(D), incorporated in 1974 in the Constitution, says that equitable

opportunities and facilities for the people of Andhra Pradesh and safeguards
their rights in matters of employment and education.
Article 371(E), Allows for the establishment of a university in Andhra
Pradesh by a law of Parliament.

Articles 371(F) bestows on Sikkim government the right of ownership of all

land in the state.

Article 371(G) deals with special provisions with respect to the state of
Mizoram. It stresses that any act of Parliament relating to religious and social
practices of Mizo customary law and procedure, administration of civil or criminal
justice involving decisions according to Mizo customary law, ownership and
transfer of land and its resources shall not apply to Mizoram unless state
assembly decides to do so.

Article 371(H) Governor has a special responsibility with regard to law and
order of Arunachal Pradesh.
Article 371(J) (98th Amendment Act, 2012), Karnataka:There is a provision
for a separate development board for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

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Lt. Governors & Administrators

Union Territory Lt. Governor & Administrator

Andaman and
Admiral D K Joshi (Lieutenant Governor)
Nicobar Island (UT)

Chandigarh (UT) Shri.V.P. Singh Badnore (Administrator)

Dadra and Nagar

Haveli and Daman Shri Praful Patel (Administrator)
and Diu (UT)

Delhi (NCT) Shri Anil Baijal (Lieutenant Governor)

Jammu and Kashmir

Shri Girish Chandra Murmu (Lieutenant Governor)
(UT)

Lakshadweep (UT) Shri Dineshwar Sharma, IPS, (Administrator)

Puducherry (UT) Dr. Kiran Bedi, IPS, (Retd.) (Lieutenant Governor)

Ladakh (UT) Shri Radha Krishna Mathur (Lieutenant Governor)

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