Govt can't replace Governors arbitrarily: SC

New Delhi, May 8: Disapproving the practice of replacing Governors when a new government comes to power, the Supreme Court on Friday, May 7 held that a Governor replaced only under 'compelling' reasons.

Governors of states 'cannot be changed in an arbitrary and capricious manner", the apex court observed adding that a Governor cannot be removed merely because they are not 'in sync' with the party in power.

The landmark move came from a five-judge Constitution bench consisting of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justices S H Kapadia, R V Raveendran, B Sudershan Reddy and P Sathasivam while dealing with a five-year-old petition filed by then BJP MP BP Singhal challenging the removal of Governors of UP, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa by the President in 2004 on the advice of the first UPA government.

The government had argued that since Governors act as mediators between the Centre and the state governments, it would be a difficult situation if disagree with the Central government.

OneIndia News