Time to codify Governors’ powers

One reason why Governors try to arrogate to themselves powers is that the Constitution does not strictly define their boundaries

The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government has intensified its campaign seeking the recall of Governor R N Ravi over his “extra-constitutional” activities and has approached like-minded parties for their support. The Governor has been engaged in a confrontation with the M K Stalin government ever since he took over in September 2021 and has been accused of exceeding his constitutional brief and interfering in the smooth functioning of the administration. While this is not an isolated case and there is a long history of individual Governors acting as handmaidens of the party in power at the Centre, we are now in a period, perhaps for the first time, when Governors in almost every Opposition-ruled state have locked horns with the respective state governments. The misuse of the office of Governor had largely abated since the Narasimha Rao years and through the Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh years. Now, Raj Bhavans have once again become politically active and overtly adversarial to elected governments. The Modi government’s continued silence over the transgressions by Governors, despite several complaints from Chief Ministers, indicates that these Governors enjoy tacit, if not active, support of the Centre.

Be it Kiran Bedi in Puducherry, B S Koshiyari in Maharashtra, Anil Baijal -- and now V K Saxena -- in Delhi, former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, who is now Vice President, Arif Mohammed Khan in Kerala, Tamilisai Soundararajan in Telangana or Banwarilal Purohit in Punjab, Governors and Lt Governors have seemed intent on causing discomfort, often to the point of breaching constitutional propriety, to elected governments. Almost every Opposition-ruled state has demanded the recall of their respective Governor and have accused Raj Bhavan of doing the bidding of the Centre, the ruling party BJP, and worse, of the RSS and its appendages.

One reason why Governors try to arrogate to themselves powers over law-making and governance, is that the Constitution does not strictly define their boundaries, though it is well settled legally that it intends them to be figureheads, albeit with some residual powers. Also, in violation of Sarkaria Commission recommendations, active politicians are appointed Governors and they are only too keen to please their political bosses. An evolved democracy draws from the spirit of the Constitution and from healthy precedents and conventions, rather than the written word alone, but that perhaps cannot be expected from political appointees. Perhaps the time has come to codify Governors’ powers and responsibilities so that they cannot be misinterpreted or misused. As the Sarkaria Commission noted, “The Governor should be non-partisan and act as a linchpin for smooth relations between the Centre and the states, rather than as an agent of the former.”