In the wake of the Beniwal dismissal, a reading of Articles 155 and Article 156 is a must.
Article 155 states that, “The governor of a state shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.”
Article 156 adds that:
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 if this article, a governor shall hold office for a term of 5 years form 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.
Hence, the Governor stays in the post at the confidence of the President.
The relations between Governors and the Centre and even between the State governments and the Governors have been sometimes bitter. The past few decades since the landmark S.R Bommai vs Union of India case, things have improved, but not enough, as witnessed in the recent Beniwal dismissal.
Thus the relations between the government and the governors can be looked at as pre-Bommai and post-Bommai. Here are a few prominent governor-induced crises:
• Dharma Vira, the governor of West Bengal in 1967, dismissed chief minister Ajay Mukherjee and appointed P C Ghose in his place. He summoned the assembly against the will of Mukherjee.
• Prabhudas Patwari from Tamil Nadu and Raghukul Tilak from Rajasthan were sacked in 1980 and 1981 respectively.
• Janata government in 1977 dismissed around 15 governors.
• In 1984, Congressman Ram Lal dismissed the NT Rama Rao government and allowed Nadendla Bhaskar Rao as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh for 31 days.
Following the dismissal of State government the position of the governors were not secure as well. The 1988 Sarkaria Commission Report on Centre-State Relations noted about the Governor's tenure issue:
"The ever-present possibility of the tenure being terminated before the full term of five years can create considerable insecurity in the mind of the Governor and impair his capacity to withstand pressures, resist extraneous influences and act impartially in the discharge of his discretionary functions."
In 1989, S.R. Bommai case happened which was suppose to bring some change in the position of the state governors.
S.R. Bommai vs Union of India
• Supreme Court of India discussed the provisions of Article 356. Article 356 was misused by the central government to dismiss state government. The Supreme Court decided that Article 356 is an extreme power and is to be used as a last remedy in cases where it is manifest that there is an deadlock and the state government has collapsed. The views expressed by the court in this case are similar to the Sarkaria Commission case.
• The SC decided to take away the power of the centre to dismiss the state government for political gains.
Even after the supreme court ruling in S.R. Bommai case there didn't seem much difference in the process of dismissal of the governors. Here are some prominant examples:
• 1998, the BJP government removed Gujarat Governor Krishna Pal Singh who was appointed by the UPA government.
• In July 2001, NDA dismissed another UPA appointed Tamil Nadu governor, M. Fathima Beevi giving the reasons of her ‘failure’ to perform her duties.
• United Progressive Alliance government had dismissed four governors in 2004 who were appointed by NDA govt.
1) Kidar Nath Sahni (Goa)
2) Kailashpati Mishra (Gujarat)
3) Babu Parmanand (Haryana)
4) Vishnu Kant Shastri (Uttar Pradesh)
The dismissal of the four governors created a controversy as the opposition party called it an “unconstitutional” and “one aimed against the federal system” quoted Frontline.
Kamla Beniwal, took charge as governor of Gujarat on 27 November, 2009. In the normal course she would have had to retire on 6 July, 2014. She was then transferred to Mizoram from which she was removed as per the orders of President Pranab Mukherjee.
The removal of Kamla Beniwal has become a huge controversy.
In August 2011, as the Governor of Gujarat, she appointed Justice R.A. Mehta as the Lokayukta head. According to Section 3 of Gujarat Lokayukta Act, 1986, the Governor was allowed to make the appointment if there was a delay in the process. Ms. Beniwal went ahead with it without the consent of the Modi government.
In 2013, another controversy arose when she returned the Gujarat Lokayukta Commission Bill, objecting ‘giving whole power to the state government head to appoint the Lokayukta head and to eliminate the state Governor as per the requirements.’
Modi not too happy with Ms. Beniwal, criticised her of sitting over the legislations passed in Gujarat Assembly, which also included 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.
The reasons the NDA government gave for her dismissal are:
1) She has been accused of acquiring plots of land from the government illegally on claims of working 14 to 16 hours a day as farm labour.
2) As per Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu there was “no politics in it” [removal of Ms. Beniwal].
3) She was also accused of misusing the government funds when she was in service. She spent around 8.5 crore in air travel.
List of governors who resigned or were sacked by the government
1) Puducherry governor Virendra Kataria
2) Mizoram governor Vakkom B Purushothaman resigned from his post as he was unhappy with the transfer to Nagaland.
3) Kamla Beniwal former governor of Gujarat later transferred to Mizoram was asked to step down from her post.
4) BL Joshi (Uttar Pradesh governor) resigned.
5) Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh governor) resigned.
6) Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland governor) resigned.
7) BV Wanchoo (Goa governor) resigned.
8) M K Narayan (West Bengal governor) resigned.
Two governors who retired
1) HR Bhadarwaj (Karnataka governor)
2) Devanand Konwar (Tripura governor)
UPA governors on the list to be dismissed but are still in power even after the pressure from NDA
1) K Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra)
2) Sheila Dikshit (Kerala)
3) Jaganath Pahadia (Haryana)
4) Shivraj V Patil (Punjab)
