Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on October 19 threatened to sack ministers who “lowered the dignity” of his office.
- A statement on Khan’s official Twitter handle said: “The CM and Council of Ministers have every right to advise the Governor. But statements of individual ministers that lower the dignity of the office of the Governor, can invite action including withdrawal of pleasure.”
Pleasure doctrine
- The position, role, powers, and conditions of office of the Governor are described in Articles 153-161 of the Constitution.
- The position of Governor is similar to that of the President at the Union. He is at the head of the state’s executive power, and barring some matters, acts on the advice of the council of ministers, which is responsible, in accordance with the parliamentary system, to the state legislature.
- There have been instances of Governors dismissing Chief Ministers, but those were related to constitutional situations in which the legislative majority of the incumbent ministry was in doubt.
- The Governor is appointed by the President (on the advice of the central government) and, therefore, acts as the vital link between the Union and the state governments.
- The Governor enjoys certain powers such as giving or withholding assent to a Bill passed by the state legislature or determining the time needed for a party to prove its majority — or which party must be called first to do so.
- Article 164(1) says state “Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor”.
- As per some constitutional experts, the pleasure doctrine exists only in a constitutional sense, and is exercised by the Governor only on the advice of the Chief Minister.
- In other words, the term ‘pleasure of the Governor’ is used as a euphemism to refer to the Chief Minister’s power to drop a Minister from the Council of Ministers.
- In Shamsher Singh & Anr vs State Of Punjab (1974), a seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court said that the President and Governor exercise their formal constitutional powers only upon and in accordance with the advice of their Ministers save in a few well known exceptional situations.
- In Nabam Rebia And Etc. vs Deputy Speaker And Ors (2016) the Supreme Court said that the Governor under the Constitution has no function which he can discharge by himself.
