7 THE GOVERNOR
The Governor is appointed by the President.
His term of office is 5 years but he can be removed earlier if the President so desires.
Qualifications :- Only an Indian citizen above 30 years of age is eligible for appointment as Governor of a State
Powers and Functions :- The Governor acts as the head of the State Executive and is vested with the following powers:
He appoints the Chief Minister of his State and other Ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister. He also appoints the Advocate General and Chairman and members of the Public Service Commission of the State.
He has the power to grant pardon, suspend, remit or commute sentences over which the power of the State extends.
No bill can become a law in his State without his assent 4. The budget of the State is also submitted on his behalf
He summons and prorogues the Houses of the State Legislature. He can dissolve the Legislative Assembly.
He can issue ordinances, when Parliament is not in session (valid for six weeks).
Council of Ministers :- The Council of Ministers in a state is formed by the Chief Ministers in a state is formed by the Chief Minister, who is appointed by the Governor and is, normally, the elected leader of the majority party and who heads the Council of Ministers.
Tenure and Removal of Governors :- Article 156 of the Constitution says that the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. Subject to this rule, the tenure of the office of the governor is fixed for five years from the date on which he enters upon his office. He may be removed from his office at any time by the President. The President acts on the advice of the Cabinet. The Governor may, however, resign his office by writing to the President. The five years term provided for the Governors under clause (3) is subject to exercise of pleasure by the President under clause. (1) Of Art. 156. Thus it lies within the power of the President to terminate in his discretion the term of the office of the Governor at his pleasure. The Presidential pleasure is non-justiciable. It is not regulated or controlled by the procedure laid down in Art. 311. The Governor has no security of tenure and no fixed term of office. He may be removed by an expression of Presidential displeasure. Mr. L.K. Advani on 12th July, 2004 have requested the Home Minister Shiv Raj patil to reconsider the removal of Governors and follow the Sarkaria Commission recommendation for the completion of tenure or recommendation of Ventachalliya, the removal of Governor should be the same as that of appointment. Four Governors dismissed under Article 156(1) of the Constitution. The Governors were Kidar Nath Sahani of Goa, Kailashpati Mishra of Gujarat, Babu Parmanand of Haryana and Vishnu Kant Shastri of Uttar Pradesh.
