State Government

At the Centre there is a President and a Prime Minister; in a State there is a Governor and a Chief Minister. The Governor is the constitutional head of the State, the Chief Minister is the real executive head. The Constitution deals with the State Executive in Part VI, Chapter II, Articles 153 to 167. Article 153 says there shall be a Governor for each State, and a single person can be Governor of two or more States (7th Amendment, 1956). Article 154 places the executive power of the State in the Governor, which he exercises directly or through officers subordinate to him.

Appointment (Article 155). The Governor is appointed by the President by a warrant under his hand and seal. So he is not elected and not appointed by the State, and that is why he is called the Centre's nominee in the State. (The USA's state governors, by contrast, are elected. India's way was borrowed from Canada, where the provincial heads are appointed by the Centre.) Qualifications (Article 157): a citizen of India and at least 35 years of age. Conditions (Article 158): he must not be a Member of Parliament or of any State Legislature (if he was, his seat falls vacant on taking office) and must not hold any office of profit. By convention he should be an outsider to the State and should not have been in active politics recently; this was the Sarkaria Commission's advice.

Term and removal (Article 156). A Governor holds office during the pleasure of the President. The normal term is five years, but the five years are only a ceiling, not a guarantee: the President can remove or transfer him earlier, and the Constitution gives no grounds or procedure for removal. He may resign by writing to the President, and he continues in office until his successor takes charge, even after five years. In B. P. Singhal v. Union of India (2010) the Supreme Court held that a Governor cannot be removed arbitrarily or merely because the Government dislikes him; the removal must be for compelling reasons and is open to judicial review. The Governor's oath (Article 159) is administered by the Chief Justice of the High Court of the State (or the senior-most judge available).

The Governor's powers look a lot like the President's, but with three important gaps: the Governor has no diplomatic, no military and no emergency power of his own. What he does have falls into four groups: executive, legislative, financial and judicial, plus a small area of discretion.

Ordinance-making (Article 213). When the Legislature is not in session and the Governor is satisfied that immediate action is needed, he may promulgate an Ordinance, which has the same force as an Act. But there are limits: (i) it is allowed only when the Assembly (or both Houses, if there is a Council) is not in session, so "Governor can issue ordinances when the Assembly is in session" is a wrong statement; (ii) it must be laid before the Legislature when it reassembles and ceases to operate six weeks after reassembly, unless disapproved earlier; (iii) he needs the President's prior instruction for subjects where a Bill would need the President's previous sanction; and (iv) it can cover only those subjects on which the State Legislature can make laws. Repeated re-promulgation of ordinances is a fraud on the Constitution (D. C. Wadhwa v. State of Bihar, 1987).

Discretion (Article 163). The Governor acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers except in matters where the Constitution requires him to act in his discretion. If a question arises whether something is discretionary, the Governor's decision is final and cannot be questioned in court on the ground that he should have taken advice (Article 163(2)). In practice his discretion is seen in: (i) appointing the Chief Minister when no party has a clear majority (a hung Assembly); (ii) dismissing a ministry that has lost the confidence of the House but refuses to resign; (iii) dissolving the Assembly when the ministry has lost its majority; (iv) reserving a Bill for the President; (v) recommending President's Rule (Article 356); and (vi) special responsibilities under certain provisions, such as Article 371 and the Sixth Schedule for tribal areas. Courts check the manner of use: in Rameshwar Prasad (2006) the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly was held unconstitutional, and in Nabam Rebia (2016) the Court limited the Governor's discretion in summoning and advancing a session.

Think of the Governor as an umpire who normally follows the scoreboard (the ministry's advice) but has a small set of calls that only he can make. Because those calls can decide who governs, they are where most Centre-State friction arises: appointing a CM in a hung House, reserving Bills, and reporting for President's Rule. The Supreme Court's message is that discretion is not a licence for personal choice; it must be exercised in good faith and is reviewable.

The State follows the same parliamentary logic as the Centre: the Governor is the head on paper, but the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister actually runs the State. Article 163(1) says there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor. Article 164(1) says the Governor appoints the Chief Minister, and the other ministers are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the Governor, but in practice that means during the Chief Minister's pleasure so long as he has the House behind him.

Collective responsibility (Article 164(2)): the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly, not to the Council or the Governor. One falls, all fall. Individual responsibility works through the Governor's pleasure: a minister can be removed on the CM's advice. Remember: at the Centre it is Article 75(3) and the Lok Sabha; in the State it is Article 164(2) and the Legislative Assembly.

The Chief Minister's role. The CM is the head of the Council, the link between the Governor and the Council (Article 167: he must tell the Governor all decisions about administration and legislation and furnish information the Governor asks for), the leader of the House, and the chief spokesman of the Government. The CM has no fixed tenure; he stays as long as he enjoys the Assembly's confidence. When the CM resigns or dies, the whole Council ceases to exist. Whether he commands the majority is decided on the floor of the House, as the Supreme Court insisted in S. R. Bommai (1994). If no party has a clear majority (a hung Assembly), the Governor uses his discretion to invite a leader who can prove a majority.

Advocate General (Article 165). He is the State's chief law officer, the counterpart of the Attorney General of India (Article 76). The Governor appoints a person qualified to be a High Court judge. He holds office during the pleasure of the Governor (no fixed term), receives remuneration the Governor determines, and may resign by writing to the Governor. He advises the State Government on legal matters and appears for it in the High Court. Under Article 177, he has the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of the Legislature and its committees but cannot vote. He is not a government servant and may do private practice.

A State Legislature is made of the Governor and one or two Houses. In most States it is unicameral, with only the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly). In some it is bicameral, with the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) as well. The law sits in Part VI, Chapter III, Articles 168 to 212. Article 168 says the Legislature consists of the Governor and the House(s). As of 2025, six States have a Legislative Council: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka. (The Jammu and Kashmir Council was abolished when the State became a Union Territory in 2019.)

The Legislative Assembly. Its strength is minimum 60 and maximum 500 members (Article 170), chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies. Small States are the exception: Sikkim 32, Goa 40, Mizoram 40 (and Arunachal Pradesh 60). The term is five years (Article 172), which can be extended by Parliament by one year at a time during a National Emergency (not beyond six months after it ends), and the Governor can dissolve it earlier. Qualifications (Article 173): citizen of India, 25 years for the Assembly and 30 years for the Council. The Assembly's presiding officer is the Speaker (Article 178) with a Deputy Speaker. Quorum is 10 members or one-tenth of the House, whichever is greater (Article 189). The gap between two sessions cannot exceed six months. The voting age is 18 (61st Amendment, 1988).

The Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad). It is a semi-permanent House: it is never dissolved, and one-third of its members retire every two years (term of members: six years). Its size is at most one-third of the Assembly and at least 40. Its members come from five sources: one-third elected by the Assembly's members (from outside the House); one-third by local bodies (municipalities, district boards); one-twelfth by graduates; one-twelfth by teachers; and one-sixth nominated by the Governor (people with special knowledge in literature, science, art, the co-operative movement and social service). Its Chairman is elected by the Council itself.

Legislative procedure. An ordinary Bill can start in either House. If the Council passes it with changes the Assembly dislikes, the Assembly can reject those changes and pass it again; the Council can then hold it for only one month on the second occasion. In the end, the Assembly has the last word; there is no joint sitting in States (unlike Parliament). A Money Bill (Article 198) can be introduced only in the Assembly, on the Governor's recommendation; the Council can only recommend changes within 14 days, and the Assembly may ignore them. The Speaker decides whether a Bill is a Money Bill (Article 199), and his decision is final. Defection is dealt with under the Tenth Schedule (52nd Amendment, 1985): the Speaker (or the Chairman in the Council) decides on disqualification, and the decision is subject to judicial review (Kihoto Hollohan, 1992).

India is one Union, but not every State started its journey from the same place. Some are hill States with tribal customs, some were backward regions inside bigger States, and some joined the Union late. So the Constitution gave a few States special provisions, tailored to their history or their problems. These are found in Part XXI (Articles 369 to 392), titled "Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions". The key lesson: a special provision does not make a State less Indian; it protects a local need (customs, land, equal opportunity, development) inside the common framework.

Think of Part XXI as three kinds of provisions. Temporary ones were meant to end (Article 369 gave Parliament a five-year power over a few State List matters; Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir was temporary in wording). Transitional ones helped the shift from the old system to the new (Articles 371 onwards in the early years). Special ones protect particular States and are still in force (Articles 371 to 371J).

Nagaland (Article 371A) in detail. This is the most asked one. The Naga hills had a long history of self-rule and customary courts, and the Centre signed the 16-Point Agreement (1960) with Naga leaders before the State was formed. Article 371A says that no Act of Parliament on (a) religious or social practices of the Nagas, (b) Naga customary law and procedure, (c) administration of civil and criminal justice that involves Naga customary law, or (d) ownership and transfer of land and its resources applies to Nagaland unless the Nagaland Legislative Assembly passes a resolution to apply it. So here the State Assembly has a kind of veto over Parliament. Mizoram's Article 371G is almost a copy: the same protection for Mizo customary law, social practices and land.

Andhra Pradesh (Article 371D) and Karnataka (Article 371J) are about fairness inside one State, not about tribal customs. Under 371D, the President can order that people from different parts of Andhra Pradesh get equitable opportunities in public employment and education, which led to local-cadre rules and, for a time, an Administrative Tribunal for State service disputes. 371E allows the Parliament to set up a Central University in the State. After Telangana was formed in 2014, Article 371D continues to apply to both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Article 371J (98th Amendment, 2012) gives the Hyderabad-Karnataka region (renamed Kalyana-Karnataka in 2019) a separate development board, equitable allocation of funds, and reservation in education and State jobs for people of the region, with the Governor having a special responsibility.

Sikkim (Article 371F). Sikkim was a protectorate, then an Associated State (35th Amendment, 1974), and became the 22nd State of India on 26 April 1975 through the 36th Amendment. Article 371F makes the old Sikkim laws continue until changed, requires an Assembly of at least 30 members, and provides one seat for the Sangha (Buddhist monastic community), elected by the Sangha alone. In R. C. Poudyal v. Union of India (1994) the Supreme Court upheld these special arrangements, including seat reservation for particular communities of Sikkim, saying that the integration of a unique State justified a departure from strict equality. Arunachal Pradesh (371H) and Goa (371I) are the other two statehood provisions: they fix a minimum size of the Assembly (30 members) and, for Arunachal, give the Governor a special responsibility for law and order.

Special Category Status (SCS) is not the same thing. Articles 371 to 371J are constitutional; Special Category Status is a non-constitutional, administrative classification that came with the Gadgil formula (1969) for sharing central assistance. The criteria were hilly and difficult terrain, low population density or a large tribal share, a strategic border location, economic and infrastructure backwardness, and non-viable State finances. Such States got a larger share of central grants on easy terms. After the 14th Finance Commission (2015) raised the States' share in the divisible pool to 42 per cent, the practical value of the category faded, though demands for it from States such as Bihar and Andhra Pradesh keep returning in the news. It is not mentioned in the Constitution, and it is decided by the Union Government, not by the Finance Commission.

Union Territories (UTs) are governed under Part VIII (Articles 239 to 242). The default is simple: the President administers a UT through an Administrator, whom he appoints (Article 239). He is called a Lieutenant Governor in Delhi, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and simply an Administrator elsewhere. Most UTs have no elected legislature. But three UTs have their own Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister: Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. That is why they look half-State and half-UT. (As of 2025 India has 28 States and 8 Union Territories.)

Delhi, the National Capital Territory (NCT). Delhi began as a Part C State with an Assembly in 1952 (first Chief Minister: Chaudhary Brahm Prakash), but the Assembly was abolished in 1956 when it became a UT. After the Balakrishnan Committee, the 69th Amendment Act, 1991 inserted Article 239AA, which named Delhi the National Capital Territory and gave it a 70-member Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers; the Assembly elections restarted in 1993 (Madan Lal Khurana became Chief Minister). The Council of Ministers cannot exceed 10 per cent of the Assembly (so at most 7). The Assembly can make laws on the State List and Concurrent List subjects except public order, police and land, which stay with the Union. The Chief Minister is appointed by the President, not by the Lieutenant Governor, and Article 239AB allows the President to take over if the constitutional machinery fails.

The Delhi story is a tug-of-war between an elected government and the Union's representative. The Supreme Court in 2018 (Constitution Bench) held that the Lieutenant Governor does not have independent decision-making power and must act on the Council's aid and advice, except on the matters reserved for the Union. In May 2023 a Constitution Bench held that the elected Government of Delhi also has control over services, except those relating to public order, police and land. Parliament then passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023, creating the National Capital Civil Service Authority, and the law was challenged in the Supreme Court. For the exam, remember the principle: in Delhi, public order, police and land belong to the Union, and the rest is shared with the elected government.

Puducherry was a French colony, which de facto joined India in 1954 and was legally merged by the 14th Amendment (1962). That amendment inserted Article 239A, letting Parliament create a legislature and a Council of Ministers for certain UTs; Parliament then passed the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, and Puducherry has had its legislature under that Act ever since (the Assembly has 30 elected and 3 nominated members). The Assembly can legislate on State List and Concurrent List matters, but the Union keeps strong control through the Lieutenant Governor, and the President can make regulations for Puducherry (Article 240) when the Assembly is suspended or dissolved.

Jammu and Kashmir. Until 2019, J&K was a State with a special position under Article 370 (a separate constitution, flag, and a State legislature with a six-year term). On 5 August 2019, a Presidential Order (C.O. 272) used the Article 370(1) route to apply the whole Constitution to J&K, and on 6 August 2019 a second Order (C.O. 273) under Article 370(3) declared that all clauses of Article 370 except clause 1 would cease to operate. Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split the State into the UT of Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislature) and the UT of Ladakh (without a legislature) from 31 October 2019. The J&K Assembly now has a five-year term. In Ladakh, local administration is handled by the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil. The two UTs share one High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. On 11 December 2023, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud unanimously upheld the 2019 steps.