167- Duties of Chief Minister as respects the furnishing of information to Governor, etc.
It shall be the duty of the Chief Minister of each State
(a) to communicate to the Governor of the State all decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to the administration of the affairs of the State and proposals for legislation;
(b) to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the State and proposals for legislation as the Governor may call for; and
(c) if the Governor so requires, to submit for the consideration of the Council of Ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a Minister but which has not been considered by the Council.
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Comment
1-Under Art. 154 of the Constitution the executive power of the State is vested in the Governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him. The expression “State Government” has a meaning assigned to it under the General Clauses Act, 1897 (X of 1897). Briefly Stated, it means the authority or person authorised at the relevant date to exercise executive government in the State, and after the commencement of the Constitution, it means the Governor of the State. It is not disputed that the police department is a department of the State Government through which the executive power of the State as respects law and order is exercised.[AIR 1964 SC 703]
2- The Governor is a part of the Legislature of the State under Article 168 (1) of the Constitution. The executive power of the State is vested in him under Article 154 (1) and he is consulted in the appointment of Judges of the High Court. While under Article 235 of the Constitution, the High Court is vested with the control over the Subordinate Judiciary of the State, in the case of dismissal or removal of a judicial officer in the Subordinate Judiciary, the Governor has to issue the order though on the recommendation made by the High Court. A study of these provisions shows that there is no water tight compartment between the three major organs of the State.[AIR 1984 SC 399]
The office of Governor of a State is not an employment under the Government of India
3-Whether the office of Governor is an ‘employment’ within the meaning of that expression in Cl. (d) of Art. 319. What is the sense in which that word has been used in this Article? Semantically, the word ‘employment’ is not a word with a single fixed meaning but it has many connotations. On the one side it may bear the narrow meaning of relationship of employer and employee and on the other, it may mean in its widest connotation any engagement or any work is which one is engaged. If the former be the sense in which the word ‘employment’ is used in Cl. (d) of Art. 319, the office of Governor would certainly not be an employment, because the Governor of a State is not an employee or servant of anyone. He occupies a high constitutional office with important constitutional functions and duties. The executive power of the State is vested in him and every executive action of the Government is required to be expressed to be taken in his name. He constitutes an integral part of the legislature of the State though not in the fullest sense, and is also vested with the legislative power to promulgate Ordinance while the Houses of the Legislature are not in session. He also exercises the sovereign power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends. He is vested with the power to summon each House of the Legislature or to prorogue either House or to dissolve the legislative assembly and this power may be exercised by him from time to time. He is also entitled to address either House of the Legislature or both Houses assembled together and he may send messages to the House or Houses of the Legislature with respect to a bill then pending in the legislature or otherwise. No bill passed by the Houses of the Legislature can become law unless it is assented to by him and before assenting to the bill he may return the bill, provided it is not a money bill to the Houses of the Legislature for reconsideration. He has also the power to reserve for consideration of the President any bill which in his opinion would, if it became law, so derogate from the powers of the High Court as to endanger the position which that court is by the Constitution designed to fill. There is also one highly significant role which he has to play under the Constitution and that is of making a report where he finds that a situation has arisen in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. It is the Governor’s report which generally forms the basis for the President taking action under Art. 356 of the Constitution. It will be seen from this enumeration of the constitutional powers and functions of the Governor that he is not an employee or servant in any sense of the term. It is no doubt true that the Governor is appointed by the President which means in effect and substance the Government of India, but that is only a mode of appointment and it does not make the Governor an employee or servant of the Government of India. Every person appointed by the President is not necessarily an employee of the Government of India. So also it is not material that the Governor holds office during the pleasure of the President. It is a constitutional provision for determination of the term of office of the Governor and it does not make the Government of India an employer of the Governor. The Governor is the head of the State and holds a high constitutional office which carries with it important constitutional functions and duties and he cannot, therefore, even by stretching the language to a breaking point, be regarded as an employee or servant of the Government of India. If, therefore, the word ‘employment’ were construed to mean relationship of employer and employee, the office of Governor would certainly not be an ‘employment’ within the meaning of Cl. (d) of Art. 319.[AIR 1979 SC 1109]
3- the Governor of a State is not the only constitutional functionary whose employment is not under the Government. There are under the Constitution many other high functionaries, such as Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, who do not hold any employment under the Government of India, although they exercise State power. This Court, while examining the constitutional position of a High Court Judge, pointed out in the Union of India v. S. H. Sheth (1978) 1 SCR 423 that a High Court Judge is not a Government servant:there is no relationship of employee and employer subsisting between him and the Government. He is a holder of a constitutional office which has important constitutional functions and duties. One of us (Bhagwati, J.) pointed out in that case at page No. 463 of the Report that a High Court Judge:
“……..is as much part of the State as the executive Government. The State has in fact three organs, one exercising executive power, another exercising legislative power and the third exercising judicial power. Each is independent and supreme within its allotted sphere and it is not possible to say that one is superior to the other. The High Court, constituted of the Chief Justice and other Judges, exercises the judicial power of the State and is co-ordinate in position and status with the Governor aided and advised by the Council of Ministers who exercises the executive power and the Legislative Assembly together with the Legislative Council, if any, which exercises the legislative power of the State. Plainly and unquestionably, therefore, a High Court Judge is not subordinate either to the executive or to the legislature. It would, indeed, be a constitutional heresy to so regard him. He has a constitutional function to discharge, which includes adjudication of the question whether the executive or the legislature has overstepped the limits of its power under the Constitution. No doubt Art. 217, Cl. (1) provides for appointment of a person to the office of a High Court Judge by the President, which means in effect and substance the Central Government, but that is only laying down a mode of appointment and it does not make the Central Government an employer of a High Court Judge. In fact a High Court Judge has no employer:he occupies a high constitutional office which is co-ordinate with the executive and the legislature.”[AIR 1979 SC 1109]
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