In the first major challenge to the NDA Government’s decision to remove Governors, Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court after he was asked to quit the constitutional post. A Bench headed by Chief Justice RM lodha will hear the petition on Thursday.
The petition, which is the first of its kind to be filed by any Governor in office, could put to test the decision of the Centre to force gubernatorial authorities to resign or to remove them at will. Since the Narendra Modi Government took charge at Centre, while seven Governors were either nudged to quit, two were sacked.
In his petition, filed through law firm AP&J Chambers, Qureshi questioned the manner in which the Union Home Secretary communicated to him the decision to quit office. The communication made to him last month was by way of a phone call received from Home Secretary office. The petitioner wondered how a Constitutional office of a Governor can be undermined by a Secretary-level officer in this manner. Qureshi had refused to step down.
The petition quoted Articles 155 and 156 and stated that the Governor is appointed by the President of India and it is the latter alone who may seek their resignation. This was laid down by the Supreme Court in a celebrated 2010 decision in BP Singhal v Union of India where strict curbs were imposed on the executive power of Centre to remove Governors at will.
Imposing checks, the court held that any decision to change the Governor cannot be “arbitrary, capricious or in an unreasonable manner”. Importantly, the court stated that no Government would be justified to remove a Governor if he/she does not match with the policies and ideologies of the Centre, after a new Government has taken over. The decision further provided scope for challenging the removal in a court of law provided that a case of arbitrary exercise of power by the Centre was made out.
Qureshi had recently heaped praises on the Modi government after he got the additional charge of Governorship of Uttar Pradesh in June this year. Former Union Minister Ram Naik was appointed the UP Governor thereafter.