The main legal point established in the judgment is the duty of the Governor to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers in summoning the Legislative Assembly, and the duty of the Chief Minister to furnish information to the Governor as per Article 167 of the Constitution.

JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, CJI.

1. On 22 February 2023, the Council of Ministers of the Government of Punjab recommended the summoning of the Budget Session of the Sixteenth Punjab Vidhan Sabha on 3 March 2023 under Article 174(1) of the Constitution.

2. On 23 February 2023, the Governor of Punjab addressed a communication to the Chief Minister of the State. The subject of the letter was :

“Cabinet decision on summoning of the house of the legislature of the State on 3rd March 2023.”

3. The letter of the Governor refers to a prior exchange of correspondence between the Governor and the Chief Minister; the Governor having addressed an earlier communication of 13 February 2023 to which the Chief Minister had responded through a letter dated 14 February 2023 and a ’tweet’ of the same date.

4. In his communication of 13 February 2023 to the Chief Minister, the Governor highlighted his concern on certain specific issues, namely :

(i) The basis on which Principals were selected for being sent to Singapore for training; and

(ii) The appointment of the Chairman of the Punjab Information and Communication Technology Corporation Limited.

5. The Governor noted that while the Chief Minister had in his previous correspondence underscored the mandate with which he has assumed the office of Chief Minister, in terms of Article 167 of the Constitution, the Chief Minister is bound to furnish full details and information sought by the Governor.

6. Besides the above two issues, the Governor sought a clarification on the following matters :

“(a) About two lacs Scheduled Castes students were compelled to discontinue their studies due to non disbursal of scholarship by the Government. (letter No.Spl.Secy.Gov/2022/95 dated 21-07-2022).

(b) To remove the illegally appointed Vice Chancellor of PAU vide letter No.5/1/2021-PRB-PAU-2G/6904 dated 23-11-22.

(c) Inspite of my detailed letter dated 14-12-2022 you chose to ignore all misdeeds of Sh. Kuldeep Singh Chahal, IPS. You have not only promoted him but also posted him as Commissioner of Jalandhar and that too the orders being issued just before 26th January, knowing very well that Governor is to unfurl the national flag at Jalandhar. I had to instruct the DGP that concerned officer should maintain distance during ceremony. On this issue it seems that this officer was your blue eyed boy and you chose to ignore facts that were brought to your notice by this office.

(d) Vide letter dated 4-1-2023 I wrote about the presence of Sh. Naval Aggarwal in meetings of senior officers, where sensitive and confidential matters of security of the country are discussed. I have not received any reply till date.

(e) My letters asking for details of advertisements where you were asked for complete details, is also perhaps lying in cold storage.”

7. Responding to the above communication, the Chief Minister (@ Bhagwant Mann) issued a tweet in the following terms :

“Hon’ble Governor Sir, your letter was received through the media..all the subjects mentioned in the letter are all state subjects...I and my government are accountable to 3 crore Punjabis according to the Constitution and not to any Governor appointed by the Central Government. Consider this as my reply.”

8. This was followed by another communication of the Chief Minister dated 14 February 2023, in which he stated thus :

“DO No.CMO/CONFI-2023/132

Dated:14.02.2023

Honorable Governor Sahib,

I have received your letter No.Spl.Secy.Gov/2023/34 dated 13th February, 2023.

All the subjects mentioned in your letter are the subjects of the state government. In this regard, I would like to clarify that according to the Indian Constitution, I and my government are answerable to 3 crore Punjabis.

You have asked me, on what basis the principals are selected for training in Singapore. The people of Punjab want to ask, on what basis are the Governors in different states elected by the Central Government in the absence of any specific qualification in the Indian Constitution?

Please increase