The Use and Abuse of Discretionary Powers of Governor in Formation of Ministry in a State in India

Abstract

Discretionary powers of the Governor means the powers which s/he exercises as per one’s own individual judgement or without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. The Governor has to perform the duties as head of the state and as a ‘spot man’ of the central government and to use this discretionary power, within the peculiar context of our quasi-federal Constitution. One of the areas where the Governor can exercise discretion is in the appointment of a Chief Minister when a hung assembly emerges. The emergence of coalition government, party splits and mergers, alignment and realignment of parties, defection, etc. create muddled circumstances and these give opportunities to the Governor to use his discretion discriminately in the choice of the Chief Minister. The central government is alleged to use the office of the Governor as a weapon to manipulate the politics of the states for political gain. Unfortunately, no uniform practice has been followed or parliamentary traditions evolved in the practice of the appointment of Chief Ministers. The major criteria are whether the leader carries the majority with him or the coalition partners will have a workable majority. The Governor should try to secure a stable government and use his discretion without extraneous influence or consideration. All the study teams and the commissions urged the inevitability on the formulation of certain guidelines as precedents to follow in the appointment of the Chief Minister. In case the episode like Arunachal Pradesh (2016) repeats, the judiciary will certainly act as the guardian of the Constitution.