Conditions of Governor's office

Article 135, Draft Constitution of India 1948

(1) The Governor shall not be a member either of Parliament or of the Legislature of any State for the time being specified in the First Schedule, and if a member of Parliament or of the Legislature of any such State be elected (1 appointed) Governor, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in Parliament or such Legislature, as the case may be, on the date on which he enters upon his office as Governor.

(2) The Governor shall not hold any other office or position of emolument.

(3) The Governor shall have an official residence, and there shall be paid to the Governor such emoluments and allowances as may be determined by the Legislature of the State by law and, until provision in that behalf is so made, such emoluments and allowances as are specified in the Second Schedule.

(4) The emoluments and allowances of the Governor shall not be diminished during his term of office.

Article 158, Constitution of India 1950

(1) The Governor shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State specified in the First Schedule, and if a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any such State be appointed Governor, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as Governor.

⁠(2) The Governor shall not hold any other office of profit.

⁠(3) The Governor shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of his official residences and shall be also entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by Parliament by law and, until provision in that behalf is so made, such emoluments, allowances and privileges as are specified in the Second Schedule.

⁠(4) The emoluments and allowances of the Governor shall not be diminished during his term of office.

Draft Article 135 (Article 158) was debated on 31st May 1949 and 14th October 1949. It laid out the conditions of service for a Governor.

The Chairman of the Drafting Committee moved that clause (1) be amended to prevent a member of ‘either House of Parliament or of a House’ of any State Legislature from being appointed as a Governor. The Chairman also proposed the amendment of clause (2) to read ‘The Governor shall not hold any other office of profit’. Both were accepted by the Assembly.

Another member of the House proposed that the requirement for the Governor to have an official residence be deleted. He argued that it was unnecessary to mention such a minor detail in the Constitution, and that other Constitutions did not include similar provisions. The Chairman of the Drafting Committee responded that this was analogous to Draft Article 48 (Article 59) which set out the official residence of the President. This amendment was negatived.

The amended Draft Article was initially adopted on 31st May 1949.

Subsequently, a member of the Drafting Committee proposed to amend clause (3) to explicitly entitle a Governor to rent-free use of his official residence. He contended that this was necessary in light of a similar amendment to Draft Article 48 relating to the President’s official residence. The same member also proposed that the Draft Article be amended to permit Parliament to determine the emoluments and allowances payable to a Governor, rather than the concerned State Legislature. He argued that this was necessary since a Governor would be appointed by the President, and therefore it was improper for a State Legislature to deliberate on the matter.

Both amendments were accepted without much opposition on 14th October 1949.