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SC: Centre can’t sack Governors arbitrarily
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, May 7
In a path-breaking judgment, the Supreme Court today ruled that Governors cannot be removed with the change of power at the Centre or for refusing to act as government’s "agent" and for being out of sync with its ideology.

Delivering the judgment, a five-member Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan unanimously ruled that change in government “is not a ground for removal of Governors to make way for others favoured by the new regime”.

Governors, the Bench held, could only be removed under “rare and exceptional circumstances for valid and compelling reasons” and not in “an arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable manner” for being “out of sync” with the party in power at the Centre. The other members of the Bench were Justices SH Kapadia, RV Raveendran, B Sudershan Reddy and P Sathasivam.

Notably, the court’s ruling came on a PIL filed by VHP leader BP Singhal in 2004 in the wake of the removal of the Governors of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa by the UPA-I government headed by Manmohan Singh, which had assumed office after the March-April Lok Sabha election. The “compelling reasons” for removing Governors would depend upon the facts and circumstances in each case, the court ruled. “A Governor cannot be removed on the ground that he is out of sync with the policies and ideologies of the Union government, nor can he be removed on the ground that the Centre has lost confidence in him.”

Also, if the Union government does not disclose any reason for the removal or if the reasons disclosed are found to be irrelevant, arbitrary, whimsical or malafide, the court will interfere, the SC ruled, adding no interference, however, would be done merely on the ground that a different view is possible or that the material or reasons are insufficient.