Governors at will: SC
NEW DELHI, MAY 7
Clipping Government’s powers, the Supreme Court today ruled that Governors cannot be removed with the change of power at the Centre or for refusing to act as its “agent” and being out of ‘sync’ with its ideology.
Delivering a path-breaking unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan held that power to remove them “will have to be exercised in rare and exceptional circumstances for valid and compelling reasons”.
“A Governor cannot be removed on the ground that he is out of sync with the policies and ideologies of the Union Government or the party in power at the Centre. Nor can he be removed on the ground that the Union Government has lost confidence in him.
“It follows therefore that change in government at Centre is not a ground for removal of Governors holding office to make way for others favoured by the new government,” the Bench said.
It rejected the contention of the Centre and other respondents that Governors should be in sync with the policies of the Union Government or should subscribe to the ideology of the party in power at the Centre.
“Governor is not the agent or the employee of the Union Government”, the Bench also comprising Justices S H Kapadia, R V Raveendran, B Sudershan Reddy and P Sathasivam said.
It also rejected the contention that a Governor can be removed if the Government or party in power loses confidence in him,” Justice Raveendran writing the judgement for the Bench said.
“Governors cannot be politically active. We therefore reject the contention of the respondents that Governors should be in sync with the policies of the Union Government or should subscribe to the ideology of the party in power at the Centre,” the apex court said.
“While some of them may come from a political background, once they are appointed as Governors, they owe their allegiance and loyalty to the Constitution and not to any political party and are required to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution,” the court said.
