On the Advice of Ministers

Jul 14, 2026

Uploaded by Sage

Explains the constitutional role of the Governor in India, emphasizing that executive power is exercised only on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, as affirmed by Supreme Court rulings and constitutional framers. Discusses the options available to a Governor regarding assent to a State Assembly bill, including assent, withholding, reserving for the President, or returning for reconsideration, and applies this framework to the Governor’s handling of Tamil Nadu’s NEET Bill.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

# Bill assent,a delay and the Governor'soptions With its provision for definite choices,the Constitution makes it obligatory for the Governor to act without await The State of Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a confrontation between the elected government and theState Governor on the question of giving assent to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET)Bill(linked to an all India pre-medical entrance test)passed by the State Assembly.Giving assent to a Billpassed by the legislature is a normal constitutional act performed by the Governor.But of late,even suchnormal acts have become a source of confrontation between State governments and the Governors.Theconduct of Governors in certain States follows a definite pattern which causes a great deal of disquiet toelected governments as well as to those who have faith in the constitutional order. ## On the advice of Ministers The position of a Governor in the constitutional setup in India needs to be clearly understood in order tograsp the significance of the actions as well as responses of Governors in the politico-administrativecontexts emerging from time to time in States.The Governor is an appointee of the President,whichmeans the Union government.Although Article 154(1)of the Constitution vests in the Governor theexecutive power of the State,he is required to exercise that power in accordance with the Constitution. On the advice of Ministers The position of a Governor in the constitutional setup in India needs to be clearly understood in order tograsp the significance of the actions as well as responses of Governors in the politico-administrativecontexts emerging from time to time in States.The Governor is an appointee of the President,whichmeans the Union government.Although Article 154(1)of the Constitution vests in the Governor theexecutive power of the State,he is required to exercise that power in accordance with the Constitution.In other words,the Governor can act only on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.Thoughthere is not much deviation from the language used in the Government of India Act of 1935 in the contextof the powers of the British-era Governors,it is a settled constitutional position that the Governor is onlya constitutional head and the executive power of the State is exercised by the Council of Ministers.InShamsher Singh vs State of Punjab(1974),the Supreme Court had clearly affirmed this position in thefollowing words:"We declare the law of this branch of our Constitution to be that the President andGovernor,custodians of all executives and other powers under various Articles,shall,by virtue of theseprovisions,exercise their formal constitutional powers only upon and in accordance with the advice oftheir Ministers save in a few well known exceptional situations”. Dr.Ambedkar explained the position of the Governor in the Constituent Assembly as follows:"TheGovernor under the Constitution has no functions which he can discharge by himself:no functions

Jul 14, 2026

Uploaded by Sage