Article 164 of the Constitution of India

Article 164 of the constitution of India deals with the appointment of the Council of Ministers and the Chief Minister. Additionally, it deals with the oath-taking of the ministers, and the peculiar case of appointment of non-members of the legislative assembly into the council of ministers. Article 164 is of special import in the context of State Executive.

Article 164: Council of ministers and Chief Minister

The provisions of Article 164 is as reproduced hereunder:

The Governor shall appoint other provisions as to Ministers – (1) The Chief Minister and other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor

Provided that in the State of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa, there shall be a Minister in charge of tribal welfare who may, in addition, be in charge of the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and backward classes or any other work.

(2) The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.

(3) Before a Minister enters upon his office, the Governor shall administer to him the oaths of office and of secrecy according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule.

(4) A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature of the State shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister.

(5) The salaries and allowances of Ministers shall be such as the Legislatures of the State may from time to time by law determine and, until the Legislature of the State so determines, shall be as specified in the Second Schedule

Notes

Three main topics of discussion are an appointment of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers, the appointment of non-members as Ministers and the administration of oath:

• Appointment of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers is as laid down under Article 163 of the Constitution of India, which states that “there shall be a Council of Ministers with Chief Minister at the head….” Under Article 164, subsection (1) states that the Governor shall appoint the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. There is a bunch of interesting points about this subsection of Article 164.

• The Council of Ministers come into existence with the appointment of the Chief Minister itself (Dattaji Chirandas v. the State of Gujarat, AIR 1999 Guj 48);
• No basic rule of who should be appointed is mentioned, except the understanding that the leader of the majority party must be appointed; however, even members of the Legislative Council have been considered for Chief Ministerial post (E.g., Morarji Desai, 1952);
• Chief Minister can be asked to prove majority by a vote of confidence by the Governor even though provisions do not lay down such a condition. The silence of the Constitution on the matter doesn’t mean it can’t be asked as such an interpretation would be too rigid ( Jayakar Motilal C.R. Das v. Union of India, AIR 1999 Pat 221)
• With regards to the Council of Ministers – there is no limit to the number of Ministers that can be appointed as members of the Council.
• Although the appointment is on the advice of the Chief Minister, therefore signaling that the Chief Minister exercises his own discretion, practically it is the decision of the High Command of the political party that comes into play. Additionally, as they are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, they hold the office at the Governor’s pleasure, much like the Chief Minister. However, the Chief Minister may invoke the Governor’s pleasure to dismiss any Minister from the Council.  This exercise of the power to decide the tenure of office by the Governor is not subject to judicial review (D. Satyanarayana v. N.T Rama Rao, AIR 1988 AP 62).
• Finally, it is also to be noted that the Council of Ministers stays even when the legislature is dissolved by the Governor (K.N. Rajagopal v. M. Karunanidhi, AIR 1971 SC 1551).

Conclusion

Article 164 is of importance to understand the powers of the executive wing and the extent of the Governor’s discretionary power in such a context.