155. Appointment of Governor:

The Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.

156. Term of office of Governor:

(1) The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.

(2) The Governor may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office.

(3) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Article, a Governor shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office: Provided that a Governor shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his term, continue to hold office until his successor enters upon his office.

COMMENTS

Through the procedure of appointment of Governor by the President, the Union Government would be able to maintain its remote control over the States. He will act in contingencies as required by the President. Thus, he is eye and ear of the President in turn of the Union Government. He can be removed by the President sparingly in cases of gross delinquency, such as bribery, corruption, treason and the like or violation of the Constitution. But removal of Governors by change of government at the Centre cannot be rated as a good practice. The Constituent Assembly desired that the Governor should be a more detached figure acceptable to the province.

It would be desirable to have people from outside, eminent in something like education, literature, science, public administration, social work or anti-insurgency job who would naturally co-operate fully with the Government in carrying out the policy of the Government and yet represent before the public something above politics.

He should not be seen by people of the State as an agent of the party in power or a stooge of the person in power who is being awarded by the party in power for party loyalty or leader’s loyalty or to accommodate disgruntled persons in the party-in-power or the retired veterans of political party. The people in States look for the Governor as the person hearing the voice of the dissent and the politically oppressed people in the province. He is the ray of hope and justice amidst political turmoil or vendetta in a province.

157. Qualifications for appointment as Governor:

No person shall be eligible for appointment as Governor unless he is a citizen of India and has completed the age of thirty- five years.

158. Conditions of Governor’s Office:

(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 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.

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

159. Oath or affirmation by the Governor:

Every Governor and every person discharging the functions of the Governor shall, before entering upon his office, make and subscribe in the presence of the Chief Justice of the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to the State, or, in his absence, the seniormost Judge of that Court available, an oath or affirmation in the following form, that is to say:

“I, A.B. do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute solemnly affirm the office of Governor (or discharge the functions of the Governor) of…. and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law and that I will devote myself to the service and well being of people of….

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

The President may make such provision as he thinks fit for the discharge of the function of the Governor of a State in any contingency not provided for in this Chapter.

161. Power of Governor to grant pardons, etc. and to suspend, remit or commute sentence in certain cases:

The Governor of a State shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or 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.

COMMENTS

The power of pardoning of the Governor is on the same pattern as that of the President. The power of the Governor extends to the executive power of the State. It was held that the Governor’s order should not come in conflict with the rules of the Supreme Court made under Article 145 in regard to criminal appeals. The Governor cannot exercise his power of suspension of the sentence for the period when the Supreme Court is seized of the case. “The court would also be justified in interfering with an order passed by the Governor in exercise of power if the Governor is found to have exercised the power himself without being advised by the Government or if the Governor transgresses the jurisdiction in exercising the same or it is established that the Governor has passed the order without application of mind or the order in question is a mala fide one or the Governor has passed the order on same extraneous consideration.”

The Court invalidated the remission of the sentence by the Governor has power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites in all cases where the sentence is not a sentence of death to reconcile with power of President under article 72. It, therefore, follows that the Governor has the power to grant a pardon or remit the sentence of a person who is sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the Governor, in his order of pardon, is not expected to express any opinion on the innocence or guilt of the concerned person because that is the matter to be determined by the Court. The Government should ensure that all facts are placed before him, e.g. other cases pending against the petitioner in other courts or the petition has been brought before him by the convict just to delay his hanging or to misuse the legal procedure. For instance, in case of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, a petition for clemency was filed before the Governor of West Bengal, though he was condemned to death. The Supreme Court held that failure to bring all the material facts including the mitigating factors to the notice of the Governor vitiates his decision.

It was not Dhananjoy Chatterjee directly praying for mercy or clemency, but few NGOs influenced by the Western thoughts were pursuing his mercy petitions at various levels and even protested when he was hanged in Alipore Central Jail, Kolkata for raping and murdering a teenaged girl in her flat which he was guarding. As a result, his hanging was delayed for a number of years on flimsy grounds and in fact, he enjoyed life for, few years more rather than he suffered agony for delay due to procedural wrangles at various forums including hearing of multifarious litigations in courts.