Rediff On The NeT: President needs to be advised by cabinet to sack governor


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February 23, 1998

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President needs to be advised by cabinet to sack governor

George Iype in New Delhi

Even as the Allahabad high court reinstated the Kalyan Singh government on Monday, Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari seems to have got a temporary reprieve. President K R Narayanan refused to sack the controversial Governor on Monday, as demanded by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Rashtrapathi Bhavan sources said the President will not remove Bhandari for his unconstitutional dismissal of the Kalyan Singh government and the installation of the short-lived Jagdambika Pal government.

The President, who had termed Bhandari's act as "unwise and incorrect" is learnt to have reached a decision not to recall or remove the governor because technically the Union cabinet has to recommend such a course of action.

That the UP governor did not enjoy the pleasure of the President was apparent from his fax to Bhandari and the prime minister on Saturday.

Rashtrapathi Bhavan sources said Narayanan has already aired his views against Bhadanri's decision which he felt was not keeping with the principles of political ethics and propriety, apart from the recommendations of the government committee in the 1970s and the Supreme Court verdict in the S R Bommai case. The President also felt that the best place to prove the majority of a government was on the floor of the assembly and not in the Raj Bhavan.

Narayanan, who is "unhappy" over the UP governor's arbitrary decision consulted caretaker Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and constitutional experts during the past two days.

But the President was informed that the Union cabinet would not recommend Bhandari's dismissal. Interestingly, the Gujral cabinet could not be expected to recommend Bhandari's ouster as some of the United Front partners were actively and deliberately involved in the toppling of the Kalyan Singh government.

Technically also, the governor was within his powers to appoint a new chief minister without consulting the President, although the governor held his office during the pleasure of the President.

However, the Union cabinet was of the view that the central government would have come in the picture only if the governor had invoked Article 356 of the Constitution and recommended central takeover of the state's administration.

That has not taken place as the Union cabinet preferred to keep a distance from the political developments in UP, thus making the task of the President difficult.

Narayanan could exercise his powers under Article 156 of the Constitution under which the governor holds office during the pleasure of the President and remove the governor. But to invoke Article 156 of the Constitution, the President has to be "advised and recommended by the Union cabinet."

Many believe though Bhandari has escaped the axe despite mounting pressure from the BJP for the time being, he would be removed soon if a BJP-led government comes to power after the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

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