Governor constitutionally bound to read joint address: A S Ponnanna

Bengaluru: Virajpet MLA and legal adviser to the chief minister A S Ponnanna, on Tuesday, asserted on the floor of the Assembly that the governor is constitutionally bound to read the Cabinet-approved joint address in full and has no discretion to alter or refuse it.

Participating in the motion of thanks to the governor’s address, Ponnanna said repeated instances of governors walking out without reading the full speech or skipping portions of it in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Karnataka were "alarming" and undermined constitutional propriety.

He said such conduct gave an impression that governors in non-BJP ruled states were acting at the Centre's behest. He highlighted that the joint address contains the state government’s policies, social security schemes and future programmes and the governor’s refusal to read it amounted to shirking a constitutional duty.

BJP's Suresh Kumar asked if Ponnanna was allowed to speak against the governor or his conduct, as the agenda mentioned none of it. Speaker U T Khader reminded the members twice to abstain from commenting on the person holding a constitutional post in the House.

Citing Article 176, Ponnanna said the special address in the first session of the year is mandatory, and laying a copy of the speech cannot “ordinarily” be a substitute for delivering it. He said courts have held that unless the requirement under Art 176 is complied with, the House should not transact legislative business. “So, governor cannot refuse to deliver the address,” he said.

Referring to Art 163, he stressed that the governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, except in matters where the Constitution expressly confers discretion. He cited Dr B R Ambedkar’s explanation in the Constituent Assembly that Art 163 does not confer a general power on the governor to disregard ministerial advice, and that discretion is limited and specific.

Drawing from Constituent Assembly debates, he quoted H C Kamath’s warning that “vesting discretionary powers in an unelected governor is wrong in principle and contrary to the basic tenets of democracy.” He cited T T Krishnamachari to clarify that the governor had to act on the “advice of his ministers” and discretion was only an exception.

Recalling the intervention of K Krishnaswamy Iyer on May 30, 1949, Ponnanna said Iyer had emphasised that "the governor is only a constitutional head, while real executive power vests in the ministry responsible to the legislature"

Ponnanna quoted the 7-judge Constitution Bench ruling in Shamsher Singh Vs State of Punjab (1974), and 5-judge ruling in Nabam Rebia & Bamang Felix Vs Deputy Speaker, Arunachal Pradesh Assembly (2016), where Supreme Court categorically ruled the governor has no general discretionary power beyond what is expressly permitted under Art 163.