S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994)
The Landmark Ruling
The S.R. Bommai case ([1994] 2 SCR 644; AIR 1994 SC 1918; (1994) 3 SCC 1), decided by a nine-judge constitutional bench, is the foundational Supreme Court ruling on gubernatorial discretion and the invocation of Article 356 (President's Rule). SR Bommai was Chief Minister of Karnataka; the Governor dismissed his government in 1989 without giving him a chance to prove his majority on the Assembly floor. The Supreme Court's ruling placed strict constitutional limits on how Governors may assess majority.
- Held: The floor of the House is the only valid forum to test majority; the Governor cannot determine majority by subjective assessment, letters of support, or private satisfaction.
- Held: Imposition of President's Rule (Article 356) is subject to judicial review; the Court can examine whether the Governor's report had a rational basis.
- Held: A hung assembly itself — where no party secures majority — is a condition where President's Rule may be appropriate, but only as a last resort after exhausting all possibilities of government formation.
- The ruling effectively prevented Governors from acting as partisan agents in government-formation disputes.
● Tracked since February 04, 2026 · last seen May 09, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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