State Government

Flagship anchor

Part VI of the Constitution (Art 152 to 237) provides for the government of the States, deliberately mirroring the Union structure at the State level: the Governor is the constitutional head (Art 153), the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers wield the real executive power (Art 163, 164), and the State legislature (Art 168) makes the laws. The single most tested distinction from the President is that the Governor is appointed by the President (Art 155), not elected, and holds office during the President's pleasure (Art 156), which makes the Governor a nominee of the Centre and the constitutional hinge between the Union and the States. For CAPF the high-yield facts are: the Governor's appointment, qualifications, term and oath; the Governor's discretionary powers (reserving bills, recommending President's Rule, appointing a Chief Minister in a hung Assembly); the limits on the Governor's pardoning power (Art 161); the Council of Ministers cap; and the structure of the State legislature, including which States are bicameral and how a Legislative Council is created or abolished (Art 169). The NCERT Class XI text "Indian Constitution at Work", Chapter 4 (Executive) and Chapter 5 (Legislature), and Laxmikanth's chapters on the State executive and State legislature are the standard references.

The Governor (Art 153 to 162)

Powers of the Governor (full taxonomy)

• Executive powers: appoints the Chief Minister and, on the CM's advice, the other Ministers; appoints the Advocate General (Art 165), the State Election Commissioner, and the Chairman and members of the State Public Service Commission; all executive action of the State is taken in the Governor's name (Art 166).
• Legislative powers: summons, prorogues and dissolves the State legislature; addresses it (Art 176); nominates one member to the Legislative Assembly from the Anglo-Indian community (this nomination ended with the 104th Amendment, 2019) and one-sixth of the members of the Legislative Council from specified fields; assents to bills (Art 200), withholds assent, returns a non-money bill for reconsideration, or reserves a bill for the consideration of the President (Art 201).
• Financial powers: a money bill in the State cannot be introduced without the Governor's recommendation; the Governor causes the Budget to be laid before the legislature; the State Contingency Fund is at the Governor's disposal.
• Pardoning power (Art 161): power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions, and to suspend, remit or commute sentences, for offences against laws on a matter to which the State's executive power extends. Unlike the President, the Governor cannot pardon a death sentence and has no power over court-martial sentences.
• Ordinance power (Art 213): when the State legislature (or, in a bicameral State, either House) is not in session, the Governor may promulgate an ordinance with the force of a State Act; it must be laid before the legislature and ceases six weeks after reassembly; some ordinances need the President's prior instructions.

Discretionary powers of the Governor (Art 163)

Article 163 provides that the Council of Ministers aids and advises the Governor "except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions in his discretion". This discretion is wider than the President's. The recognised discretionary situations include:

• Reserving a bill for the consideration of the President (Art 200, 201).
• Recommending President's Rule (Art 356) when satisfied that the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution.
• Appointing a Chief Minister when no party has a clear majority in the Assembly, or when an incumbent CM dies in office without an obvious successor.
• Dismissing a Council of Ministers that cannot prove its majority, and dissolving the Assembly.
• Seeking information from the CM (Art 167).
• Functions as the administrator of an adjoining Union Territory (where so appointed), and special responsibilities under provisions for certain States and tribal areas (e.g. the Sixth Schedule).

Chief Minister and Council of Ministers (Art 163, 164)

The State legislature (Art 168 to 212)

A Legislative Council can be created or abolished by Parliament by a simple-majority law (Art 169) if the concerned State Assembly first passes a resolution by a special majority (a majority of the total membership and not less than two-thirds of those present and voting). States with a Legislative Council include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. The creation or abolition of a Legislative Council under Art 169 is treated as not amounting to an amendment of the Constitution for the purposes of Art 368.

Governor versus President (the comparison CAPF loves)

How a bill becomes a State law

A bill (other than a money bill) may begin in either House of a bicameral State legislature and must be passed and receive the Governor's action under Art 200. On a State bill the Governor has four options: assent; withhold assent; return a non-money bill for reconsideration (after which, if passed again, the Governor must assent); or reserve the bill for the consideration of the President (Art 201). A bill reserved for the President can be assented to, or the President may direct the Governor to return it for reconsideration; even if the State legislature passes it again, the President is not bound to assent. The Legislative Council's role is weak: on an ordinary bill it can delay the bill for a maximum of about three to four months across its two passages, after which the Assembly's will prevails; on a money bill it can only recommend and must return the bill within 14 days.

Important Articles

Static facts to memorise

States with a Legislative Council (current)

A Legislative Council exists in only a minority of States. As things stand the bicameral States are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. The creation or abolition of a Council needs a special-majority resolution of the State Assembly followed by an ordinary Act of Parliament (Art 169), and this is not treated as a constitutional amendment for the purposes of Art 368. The composition of a Council (Art 171) is a mix: roughly one-third elected by local bodies, one-twelfth by graduates of three years' standing, one-twelfth by teachers of three years' standing in institutions not below secondary level, one-third by the members of the Legislative Assembly, and one-sixth nominated by the Governor from persons with special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art, the cooperative movement and social service.

Security and human-rights angle (CAPF-distinctive)

• The Governor's report or recommendation is the constitutional trigger for President's Rule (Art 356), which is invoked on a "failure of constitutional machinery" that can include a serious law-and-order or internal-security collapse. The S R Bommai judgment (1994) made the proclamation subject to judicial review and required the breakdown to be genuine. See federalism and centre state relations and citizenship and emergency provisions.
• Public order and the police are State subjects (Entries 1 and 2 of the State List), so the primary responsibility for internal security within a State lies with the State government. The deployment of Central Armed Police Forces in a State ordinarily follows a State request or a Union decision, and the State's machinery (the State police, the Director General of Police, the district administration) is the first line.
• The Governor's pardoning power (Art 161) is limited to offences against State laws and, unlike the President, does not extend to death sentences or court-martial cases.
• During President's Rule, the Governor administers the State on behalf of the President, and Parliament exercises the State legislature's powers, which concentrates security decision-making at the Centre for the duration.

How CAPF asks it

State-government questions are factual and comparison-heavy: single-correct on the Governor's appointment, "how many statements are correct" on discretionary powers, Article-to-office matching, and assertion-reason contrasting the President and the Governor.

Authored practice

Common confusion

• Governor versus President: the President is elected by an electoral college and serves a fixed five-year term; the Governor is appointed by the President and serves during the President's pleasure.
• Pardoning power (Art 161 versus Art 72): only the President can pardon a death sentence or a court-martial sentence; the Governor's power is confined to State offences.
• Oath administration: the CJI administers the President's oath; the Chief Justice of the High Court administers the Governor's oath.
• Discretionary powers: the Governor has more constitutional discretion than the President (e.g. reserving a bill, recommending Art 356, choosing a CM in a hung Assembly).
• Creating versus abolishing a Legislative Council: requires both a State Assembly resolution (special majority) and a parliamentary law (simple majority) under Art 169.
• State money bill versus ordinary bill: the Legislative Council can only delay (about four months for an ordinary bill, 14 days for a money bill); it has no power to defeat the Assembly's will.

Memory hook

• "153-155-156": Governor's office, appointment, pleasure tenure, in sequence.
• "161 mirrors 72 minus death": the Governor's pardon (161) is the President's (72) without the death sentence or court martial.
• "60 to 500" Assembly; "40 to one-third" Council.
• "15 and 12": the State Council cap is 15 per cent with a floor of 12 Ministers.
• "213 is the State's 123": the Governor's ordinance power mirrors the President's.

Night before

• Governor (Art 153) appointed by the President (Art 155); office during the President's pleasure (Art 156); normal term 5 years; minimum age 35.
• Governor's oath is administered by the Chief Justice of the High Court (Art 159).
• Governor's pardon (Art 161) covers only State offences, never a death sentence or court martial.
• CM appointed under Art 164; Council collectively responsible to the Assembly; cap 15 per cent (minimum 12).
• Assembly strength 60 to 500; minimum age 25; term 5 years; Council not more than one-third, at least 40; minimum age 30.
• A Council is created or abolished under Art 169 (State special-majority resolution, then a parliamentary simple-majority law).
• Governor's discretion: reserving bills, recommending Art 356, appointing a CM in a hung Assembly.
• Public order and police are State subjects; President's Rule (Art 356) is triggered on the Governor's report.

Glossary

• Governor: the appointed constitutional head of a State (Art 153).
• Pleasure doctrine: the Governor holds office during the President's pleasure (Art 156), with no guaranteed term.
• Discretionary powers: functions the Governor exercises without ministerial advice (Art 163).
• Reservation of a bill: the Governor's power to send a State bill to the President (Art 200, 201).
• Council of Ministers: the State executive, collectively responsible to the Assembly (Art 164).
• Chief Minister: the head of the State government and leader of the Assembly majority.
• Vidhan Sabha: the Legislative Assembly, the lower and dominant House.
• Vidhan Parishad: the Legislative Council, the upper House in bicameral States.
• Bicameral State: a State with both an Assembly and a Council.
• Advocate General: the highest law officer of a State (Art 165).
• Ordinance: a law made by the Governor when the legislature is not in session (Art 213).
• President's Rule: Union assumption of a State's functions on a failure of constitutional machinery (Art 356).
• Money bill (State): a State bill confined to financial matters, introduced on the Governor's recommendation.
• Anti-defection bar: a defector cannot be appointed a Minister (Art 164(1B)).

Related notes

• union executive
• federalism and centre state relations
• citizenship and emergency provisions
• local government
• judiciary
• parliament
• constitutional and statutory bodies
• syllabus index