Constitution of India – Art.174 – Governor addressed a communication (dated 13.02.2023) to the Chief Minister (CM) highlighting his concern on certain issues to which the CM had responded through a letter and a ’tweet’ (not furnished the relevant information sought) – The Governor noted that the CM in his correspondence underscored the mandate of Art. 167 of the Constitution as per which the CM is bound to furnish full details and information sought by the Governor – On 22.02.2023, the Council of Ministers of the Government of Punjab recommended the summoning of the Budget Session of the Vidhan Sabha on 03.03.2023 under Art. 174(1) – The Governor of Punjab addressed a communication to the CM, which referred to the prior exchange of correspondence between them and stated that only after taking legal advice on the prior exchange between them, he will take a decision on the recommendation – State filed a writ petition u/Art.32 on the inaction of the Governor in summoning the Assembly for the Budget Session – Held: In terms of the order dated 28.02.2023 (after the institution of petition), the Governor had summoned the Vidhan Sabha to meet for its Fourth (Budget) Session on 03.03.2023, thus the reliefs sought have been substantially fulfilled – Further, that there was no occasion to seek legal advice on whether or not the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly should be convened, as per the constitutional provision the Governor was plainly bound by the advice tendered to him by the Council of Ministers. Constitution of India – Art.167 – Scope of – Held: The Chief Minister has the duty to communicate and duty to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the State and proposals for legislation as the Governor may require – The information that the Governor seeks under Art. 167 would enable them to effectively discharge their duties – The Chief Minister is required to discharge their duties under Art. 167 to enable the Governor to effectively discharge their duties stipulated in the Constitution.
Disposing of the petition, the Court
HELD:1. The Governor of Punjab has summoned the Sixteenth Vidhan Sabha of the State of Punjab to meet for its Fourth (Budget) Session at 10 am on 3 March 2023. With the issuance of the above order by the Governor, the reliefs which have been sought in the petition have been substantially fulfilled. [Paras 15,16][538-G-H]
2. The Chief Minister has the duty to communicate to the Governor all decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to the administration of the affairs of the State and proposals for legislation. Going beyond the duty to communicate, the Chief Minister has a duty to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the State and proposals for legislation as the Governor may require. Moreover, if the Governor so requires, the Chief Minister is duty bound to submit for consideration to the Council of Ministers any matter on which the decision is taken by a Minister which has not been considered by the Council of Ministers. [Para 18][539-E-F]
3. The power of the Governor to seek information under Article 167 must be read holistically with reference to their duties as constitutional head under the Constitution. The information that the Governor seeks under Article 167 would enable them to effectively discharge their duties. To illustrate, the Governor has the power to direct reconsideration of bills that are passed in the assembly. For the Governor to make this decision, it is necessary that all the relevant information that would aid them in making the said decision must be made available. Similarly, the governor requires all relevant information to identify if a decision has been taken by a Minister individually without the consideration of the council. The Governor might be unable to discharge their duty under Article 167(c) if the Chief Minister does not discharge their duty under Article 167(a) and Article 167 (b) by providing the Governor with relevant information as requested. Thus, the Chief Minister is required to discharge their duties under Article
167 to enable the Governor to effectively discharge their duties stipulated in the Constitution. [Para 19][539-G-H; 540-A-B]
4. While responding to the request by the Council of Ministers for summoning the House, the communication of the Governor dated 23 February 2023 referred to the Cabinet decision. However, the Governor also referred to the tweet of the Chief Minister and to his letter dated 14 February 2023 and then proceeded to state that since both the tweet and the letter were “patently unconstitutional” and “extremely derogatory”, he was compelled to take legal advice “on this issue” and that he would decide on the request thereafter. There was no occasion to seek legal advice on whether or not the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly should be convened. The Governor was plainly bound by the advice tendered to him by the Council of Ministers. [Para 23][543-D-F]
5. The genesis of the controversy has required the intervention of this Court at two distinct levels: first, to ensure that the constitutional duty of the Governor to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers to summon the Legislative Assembly is fulfilled without delay or demur; and second, to ensure that the obligation of the Chief Minister to furnish information to the Governor in terms of Article 167(b) of the Constitution is fulfilled. There are two equally important aspects for the functioning of a parliamentary democracy. First, the failure of a constitutional authority to fulfill its obligation under a distinct provision of the Constitution does not furnish a justification to another to decline to fulfill its own constitutional obligation. Second, while this Court is cognizant of the importance of free speech and expression and the fundamental value embodied in Article 19(1)(a), it becomes necessary to emphasize that constitutional discourse has to be conducted with a sense of decorum and mature statesmanship. [Para 25][544-C-E] Shamsher Singh v. State of Punjab (1974) 2 SCC 831 : [1975] 1 SCR 814; Nabam Rebia v. Dy. Speaker,
Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (2016) 8 SCC 1: [2016] 6 SCR 1 – followed.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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