A key panel of the Inter-State Council today discussed the use of discretionary powers by Governors during government formation, a development that came against the backdrop of the BJP forming its governments in Goa and Manipur despite not having a majority.
The meeting of the Standing Committee of the ISC, held after a gap of 12 years, also discussed the tenure of Governors, guidelines to them on use of discretionary powers in appointment of Chief Ministers, besides a host of other issues.
"We discussed threadbare the role of Governors. Many states felt that a Governor should be qualified, non-partisan and above politics," said Finance Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y Ramakrishnudu, who deputised for Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Ramakrishnudu said states wanted Governors to not have a say in politics.
The appointment of Chief Ministers in Goa and Manipur recently had got embroiled in controversy after leaders of BJP, which finished second to Congress in both states, were invited to form governments with the help of smaller parties and independents.
There have been many instances in the past when unhappy over a Governor's decision, the affected parties have gone to court and got the gubernatorial decisions overturned.
According to the M M Punchhi Commission's recommendations on the Centre-State relations, which were came up for consideration at today's meeting, the Governor should follow clear guidelines in the appointment of Chief Minister by sticking to "clear order of preference".
The commission has recommended that a Chief Minister should be asked to prove his majority within a clear time limit before he is dismissed.
In such a scenario, the Chief Minister should prove his majority within 5 days to maximum 30 days, it has said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting, while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Odisha, Tripura and Chhattisgarh counterparts Naveen Patnaik, Manik Sarkar and Raman Singh attended it.
Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, who are also members of the committee, did not attend the meeting and sent their representatives.
According to an internal note of the Inter-State Council, Bihar has called the role of a Governor "redundant", while a few other states felt that Governors should have no role in governance or politics of the state under their charge.
As many as 19 states have given their suggestions on the eligibility criteria for the post of Governor.
Bihar has said the post of Governor should be abolished, while Gujarat and Haryana feel the present parameters with regard to qualification of the Governor suffice.
Punjab has said that while appointing the Governor, state government should be consulted.
There was a general consensus among the states that politicisation of the post of Governor was taking place which was "unhealthy" for Centre-State relations.
On another controversial issue of granting prosecution sanction against a member of the Council of Ministers under section 197 CrPC, seven states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, contested the Punchhi Commission's recommendation that the Governor should follow Supreme Court interpretation that a Governor is not bound by the advice of the CoM.
While Uttar Pradesh has cited no reason, Punjab said a Governor should not disregard the advice of the Council of Ministers.
While some states suggested that the Governor should not be overburdened with the post of Chancellor of state's universities, states like Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana saw no problem with Raj Bhavan occupants holding that position.
Home Minister Singh is believed to have told the meeting that the powers of Governor, criteria for selection and his impeachment should largely be left untouched. Finance Minister Jaitley is learnt to have supported Singh's position.
According to an internal note of the Inter-State Council on deployment of security forces in state, 18 states agreed to the suggestion of the Punchhi Commission that the central government must protect states from internal and external disturbances.
The deployment of the forces should be within the domain of the Union government, it says, but states like Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chattisgarh have objected to it. The former two gave no reason for their opposition, Chattisgarh has said that the forces should be sent only after a request from the state government has been received. Sending forces should not be a unilateral decision of the Centre, it said.
On imposition of President's Rule, the internal note said, many states conveyed that the central intervention does not require invoking Article 352 and 356 providing the framework for localised emergency and that the state government can continue to function without being dissolved. Punjab suggested article 356 should be scrapped, while Bihar said law and order is a state subject and the Union government should desist from interfering in it.
On the Punchhi Commission's recommendation on giving equality to states in Rajya Sabha irrespective of the size of their population, five states - Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu - said the size of the population does matter.
In his inaugural address, the Home Minister said the Centre and the states share a common desire to take this nation forward and all are fully convinced that prosperity can be achieved only when there is peace and stability.
He said India is a nation characterized by unity in diversity, and hence it is important that trust and cordiality form the bedrock for Centre-State cooperation and both rise above narrow, sectarian interests to focus on the larger picture of national development.
The Punchhi Commission, which was notified in 2005, submitted its report in 2010. The recommendations of the Commission, which are contained in seven volumes, pertain to the history of Centre-State relations in India; Constitutional Governance and Management of Centre-State Relations; Centre- State Financial Relations and Planning, besides other issues.
Various Union Ministries and all state governments responded to the recommendations made in the report by providing detailed comments.
The Standing Committee examined in detail various recommendations of the Punchhi Commission contained in Volume II & III.
The Volume II of the report is related to provisions of the Constitution that are related to important aspects of Constitutional governance such as the role of Governors, deployment of central forces, federal balance of power, ensuring better coordination between Centre and states and other important issues.
The recommendations of the Standing Committee, finalised at this meeting, will be placed before the Inter-State Council headed by the Prime Minister.
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