Governor powers in contrast with the state legislature
Governor’s Powers and the Legislative Powers
The Constituent assembly suggested for the structure of Indian governance to be Federal in
nature, thus the concept of Central Executive (Art.52-78), Legislature (Art.79-88) was adopted
and the same was incorporated for the State as well, under articles (Art.153-167) (Art.168-177)
for executive and legislature respectively.
The Constitution of India has bestowed the Governor’s powers with some Legislative powers and the power of making ordinances under exceptional conditions. Though he is a nominal head of the state all the executive orders have to be passed in his name, this also means that the Governor is also responsible for the Legislature.
State executive consists of the Governor and the Council of Ministers with Chief Minister as its head. The Governor of a State is appointed by the President for a term of five years and holds his office during his pleasure. Only Indian citizens above 35 years of age are eligible for appointment to this office. Executive power of the State is vested in Governor.
We all know that the Legislature is the body that makes the laws and it is the executive that is
supposed to enforce that made laws. But we must also know that Art.163(2), gives the governor the power to take a decision on a matter whether it falls under him or not and if he decides that a matter falls under his hands, that decision stands finalized.
Governor’s powers also have situational discretion, that has arisen due to urgent political matters, like the appointment of the Chief minister when there is no clear majority party or dismissal of the council of ministers or the dissolution of the state legislative assembly.
The best example of this can be noted in the 2018 Karnataka Elections where the BJP had established as a victory party and the very next day Yediorappa was appointed as the Chief Minister, later he was dethroned for not proving the majority and the governor appointed JD(S) and Congress coalition government and the same can be attributed to the Maharashtra Government too.
The contention here is that though the legislature has the power to make laws and the executive is the one to promulgate them, in exceptional situations the Governor who is the head of the state has many functions to act on behalf of the legislature to ensure that the state is run in an efficient manner.
The Governor’s powers also has the power to make ordinances. Ordinances are temporary laws that a the Governor of a state can promulgate in extreme emergencies and when the legislature is not in sitting, though these laws have to be taken assent of the legislature once the house comes for a sitting if not the ordinance stands void.
This power of the Governor is the most debated of all time as this has been misused enormously and this can be highlighted in the DC Wadhwa vs State of Bihar to the most recent Krishnakumar Singh case where the ordinance-making power has been criticized and the system has failed to address this issue efficiently.
The conclusion note would be that, though the Governor has been vested with enormous power he has been constantly kept in check by the legislative body, and this absolutely feels necessary if not there shall be two governments running in a single dominion, one elected by the people and the other would be the dictator.
Therefore no matter how contrasting the powers of the Governor be, the constant check by the
legislature ensures the safety of the Constitution of India and to the Citizens of the state/nation.
