2.1. Appointment

It is the President who appoints the Governor by warrant under his hand and seal and the Governor holds the office in accordance with the President’s pleasure. In a way, the Governor is a nominee of the Central Government. Also, while the Governor’s prescribed office term is five years, he may be removed at any time by the President.

The founding fathers envisaged the institution of Governor as a non-political office, acting as an organic link between the Centre and the State. But, this has not been followed in practice, and instead something similar to a spoils system has been followed. There have been arguments that the Governor’s office is used as a post retirement reward for politicians and retired bureaucrats.

The First Administrative Reforms Commission emphasized on healthy conventions. The Raja Mannar Committee, appointed by the Tamil Nadu government, suggested the following:

♤ The CM of the concerned state must be consulted before appointing a person as the Governor

♤ If the CM is against such an appointment, that person should not be appointed.

This was supported by the Sarkaria Commission and Punchhi Commission on Center-State Relations. However, this practice has hardly been followed.