Constitutional Position of the Governor
Aid and Advice Principle
The Governor is the constitutional head of a state, analogous to the President at the Union level. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976) introduced Article 74(1)'s explicit requirement that the President "shall act in accordance with" Cabinet advice — though the Supreme Court in Shamsher Singh v. State of Punjab (1974) had already held this principle applied to both the President and Governor. Article 163 states that the Governor shall act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers "except insofar as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion." The scope of genuine gubernatorial discretion is very narrow — limited to specific constitutional provisions.
- Article 163: Governor acts on aid and advice of Council of Ministers, except where the Constitution explicitly confers discretion.
- Genuine discretion areas: Inviting the leader most likely to command majority to form government (when no party has clear majority); sending a Bill to President under Article 200; reserving a Bill for President's consideration.
- No discretion: Granting pardons/remissions under Article 161 is expressly held to be on Cabinet advice.
- Shamsher Singh v. State of Punjab (1974): Landmark ruling — President and Governor are constitutional figureheads, must act on Cabinet advice in all except genuinely discretionary matters.
- Perarivalan Case (2022): SC used Article 142 (complete justice) to directly release a Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict when the Tamil Nadu Governor repeatedly failed to act on the Cabinet's 2018 remission recommendation.
● Tracked since March 05, 2026 · last seen April 02, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes