What Happens If a CM Refuses to Quit? | Bengal Crisis Explained! | Mamata Banerjee | StudyIQ

0:00 Hi everyone, Jahend and welcome to the platform of study IQIS in English.

0:04 My name is Bhar Singh.

0:05 I'm extending 115th course and also qualified civil

0:09 services and I welcome you on the platform.

0:12 Now recently you must have seen some of the pictures in the newspaper

0:15 as well as in TV and that is about MTA Benerjee.

0:19 Yes.

0:19 Uh she is uh uh chief minister of the West

0:22 Bengal and ultimately they have or she have

0:25 uh denied resigning from the post of chief minister

0:28 after following the defeat in West Bengal state assembly elections.

0:32 So we know that uh when it comes to the election so what

0:36 happens is that if any party it loses after the state assembly elections so

0:41 the chief minister out of the convention they go and resign and ultimately

0:48 later on there is the process of the new government formation that starts off.

0:52 Now this is a very important matter and this is a debate

0:55 on whether a governor can dismiss

0:58 the chief minister unilaterally under the extraordinary circumstances.

1:02 Now this also pertains to the conflict between

1:04 the constitutional morality as well as democratic mandate as well.

1:08 So over here it is very important that there is a clarity that is

1:12 needed upon the doctrine of pleasure that is under article 164 uh that is there.

1:18 So we have no we know that when the mandate came

1:21 and the political uh you know the elections results were announced.

1:26 So we know that there is a clear-cut majority

1:28 in West Bengal that BJP has uh uh secured.

1:31 There are 207 seats that BJP had gotten.

1:34 And at the same time when it comes to trinol

1:36 congress it has secured only 80 of the seats and BJP

1:41 in West Bengal is uh you know it has secured more

1:44 than or you know twothird of the majority in the complete state.

1:48 Now what are the uh options that are

1:50 there in front of the governor in such circumstances.

1:53 Now the first step is that the governor it is the governor's prerogative

1:57 and the governor can ask he can formally

2:00 request for the resignation from the chief minister.

2:03 The second step is that there is a legislative verification

2:07 that is this is in the case if the tenor was ongoing.

2:11 If the tenure was ongoing and ultimately

2:14 the chief minister he or she loses the majority.

2:17 So then there is a flow test that is mandated and through the flow

2:22 test the governor can verify if the chief

2:24 minister has the required majority or not.

2:26 But this is only in the case of the ongoing legislature.

2:30 All right.

2:31 There is the third stage also or the third

2:33 step as well that is the automatic dissolution.

2:36 Now when it comes to the assembly of West Bengal.

2:39 So it is nearing the end of its tenure and it will

2:43 you know the tenure it will end on the 7th May 2026.

2:47 That is when the complete five year of the tenure

2:50 will get completed for the uh legislative assembly of West Bengal.

2:54 So there would be automatic resolution and ultimately

2:57 there could be formation of the new

2:59 government that will take place and then if there is no stable government

3:03 then what are the options in front of the governor that is to invoke

3:07 the article 356 that is the ultimate

3:10 backs stop and through article 356 the president's

3:13 rule could be applied in the state in the case of no stable government

3:18 could be formed but the legal anchor over here is article 164 because this lays

3:23 down that The chief minister is appointed

3:25 by the governor and the other ministers

3:27 are appointed by the governor as well on the advice of the chief minister.

3:32 Now there is a doctrine pleasure doctrine that is

3:35 uh you know that is added to the article 164

3:38 and it says the ministers including the chief minister

3:41 they hold the office during the pleasure of the governor.

3:44 Now over here this pleasure of the governor had

3:47 been uh you know it is not in literal sense.

3:50 All right.

3:51 There is council of minister that is there and they have the collective

3:54 responsibility to the legislative assembly and the pleasure

3:57 of the governor is not arbitrary

4:00 but it is linked to the support of the majority of the house

4:03 or it is linked to the aid and advice of the council of minister.

4:07 Now when it comes to the governor's discretion so

4:10 governor discretions is there uh but at the same

4:13 time the governor cannot dismiss a chief minister

4:16 just because they find them unfit or unethical.

4:19 All right.

4:20 The governor's pressure is not a postal one but also it is a constitutional one

4:25 and it exists only as long as the chief

4:27 minister enjoys the majority in the house.

4:30 When it comes to article 356 and even

4:33 the discretionary powers of the governors which are

4:36 there they have the genesis in the section

4:39 93 of the government of India act 1935.

4:43 So we have taken most of the uh sections from government of India act

4:47 1935 and governor's discretionary power were also

4:50 mentioned in government of India act 1935.

4:53 Now there are certain provisions that we need to see

4:56 in article uh 163 clause one there is that the governor

5:00 he will act on the aid and advice of the council

5:03 of minister and this is binding in the normal circumstances.

5:07 Normal in normal circumstances the governor

5:09 does not have the discretionary powers.

5:12 All right.

5:12 And when it comes to article 164 clause 1,

5:14 it says that ministers they hold office during

5:17 the pleasure of the governor and this is

5:19 linked to the majority of the house where the majority is the ruling party.

5:24 All right.

5:24 Then article 164 clause 2 says that the complete

5:28 council of minister they are collectively responsible towards

5:31 the assembly and the ultimate test is the flow

5:34 test uh that is available uh in front

5:37 of the governor and also article 163 clause 2

5:41 that is or that lays down the governor's discretion

5:43 but at the same time the judicial standards have

5:46 limited the governor's discretion by the methods of uh reasoning.

5:52 or there was a landmark judgment uh that happened in the Supreme Court

5:56 and this is SR Bombay that changed

5:58 the complete tide of the center state relationship.

6:01 Now this revolutionized the center state relations and even the governor's

6:04 role and it said that the majority support of a governor

6:08 a government must be tested only on the floor

6:11 of the house and not in the subjective opinion of the governor.

6:15 So through this case afterwards what happened was

6:18 that it prevented the arbitrary dismissal of the elected governments

6:22 by political governors and also it made article 356

6:26 that is the president's rule subject to the judicial review.

6:31 Now there is a recent case verdict as well

6:33 that happened in 2016 and that is Nam Rabia case.

6:38 In this Namur Arabia case, it was laid down that the governor's discretion is

6:41 limited or it is restricted to the specific provisions only.

6:45 Just like we have article 163 and the governor in normal circumstances,

6:50 he must act on the aid and advice

6:53 of the council of minister in most of the cases.

6:56 The governor also cannot summon or progue the house against the advice

7:01 of chief minister unless the chief minister has lost the majority.

7:05 And ultimately this also this judgment also further

7:08 curtailed the active governor model in the political disputes.

7:13 All right.

7:13 So these are the some of the landmark cases when it covers

7:16 the center state relationship especially about

7:18 the governor's role and its uh discretion.

7:21 The SAR BMI case in 1994 laid down the flow

7:24 test that is the ultimate arbiter of the majority.

7:28 In Raeshwar Prasad case in 2006, it was laid down that the governor's report

7:32 is subject to judicial scrutiny for any malifieds.

7:36 In N Rabia case, it was laid down in 2016

7:39 that the governor's discretion is narrow and it is not a journal power.

7:43 And also in a reference case by Tamil Nadu in 2025,

7:47 it was laid down that deemed ascent and no

7:50 pocket veto is available uh to the governor.

7:53 And these are the important verdicts

7:55 or the landmark judgments that you should uh follow.

7:58 Now when it comes to the complete model of the governance that we have,

8:03 it is the parliamentary system of government whether

8:05 it is at the center or in the state.

8:08 There is a collective responsibility that is given under article 164 clause 2.

8:12 And it says that this is the core mechanism

8:16 and ultimately if a no confidence motion is passed.

8:19 So this complete or the complete council of minister

8:22 it will resign and it must resign that is

8:25 what the collective responsibility is uh responsibility is

8:28 the ministers they must defend the governor's government decisions

8:32 in the public or otherwise they must resign and ultimately

8:35 that leads to the internal harmony when it comes

8:38 to the functioning of the government and when it

8:40 is or when it comes to the mechanism of removal.

8:43 So in this context the chief minister can only be constitutionally forced out

8:48 if they lose the majority or the they lose the vote in the assembly.

8:52 So governor's role when it comes to the power

8:56 setup or the governance model that we follow

8:58 it is purely to invite or dismiss that is

9:01 based on the numerical reality on the flow.

9:05 [clears throat] Now there had been recent

9:08 tensions between the center and the states.

9:11 All right.

9:11 And specifically when it comes to the governor's role and this tussle

9:15 is basically because the governors are they are appointed by the center

9:19 and ultimately because they are appointed by the center so they

9:22 often act as the political agents of the central ruling parties.

9:27 There's also lack of clear timeline for the governors to act

9:31 on the bills and even on the flow test and there is non-implementation

9:35 of the various recommendation that were given by uh two of the prominent

9:39 commission sircara commission and the punchi

9:41 commission related to center and state relationship.

9:44 So these are the major tussles that are there in front

9:48 of the uh you know that is between the center and the states.

9:52 Now when it comes to the constitutional morality

9:54 that goes beyond the legal letters that is there

9:57 and it is all about the spirit of the law that must be uh you know followed.

10:02 Now over here it is very important that does a chief minister have

10:06 any kind of moral obligation to resign during the crisis of the public trust.

10:12 All right we do not have any such kind of provision in the constitution

10:15 not only for the chief minister but also for the prime minister.

10:18 There is no such kind of provision that is there.

10:21 Also there is a uh you know there is a ethical question that revolves around

10:25 the leadership or the responsibility of the leadership

10:28 as well as the power that that leadership holds.

10:31 And when it comes to the draft you know

10:34 the the chief draft of the constitution that is Dr.

10:37 Bedkar he viewed the constitutional morality is actually not a natural instinct.

10:42 it must be cultivated and also it requires the actors to follow the conventions

10:48 even when they are not strictly legal mandates and that is what Dr.

10:53 BR Ambedkar said and even when it comes to the article 356 he was of the view

10:58 that the article 356 would be used sparingly

11:02 but we have seen what had happened to article 356.

11:05 Now these are the some of the recommendations

11:07 that were given by Sarcara Commission and Punchi Commission.

11:10 Sakario Commission said that the governor should be

11:13 a detached figure that is he should not be active

11:16 in the local politics and the governors they must act

11:19 only as a facilitator of the will of the house.

11:23 In mm punchi commission it was proposed that there should be

11:26 a localized emergency instead of the article 356 that is applied to whole

11:31 of the state so that they could there could be handling

11:34 of the riots of the crisis without dismissing of the state government.

11:39 Also it asked for the fixed tenure for the go govern governor's

11:43 uh governor's time period that was recommended and this was not followed.

11:48 So now what could be the way forward or how

11:50 we could strengthen the relationship between the center and the state.

11:53 So we should implement the panel

11:54 of the name system for the governor's appointment where

11:57 the name should be forwarded by the state as well as it should be forwarded

12:02 to the center so that the center can decide among the name uh the names

12:06 which had been proposed or there could be

12:08 a mechanism where both center and the states

12:10 they can propose a panel of names and then a consensus could be arrived

12:15 and ultimately the governor could be appointed

12:17 on in the matter of consensus also there should

12:21 be formalization of the steps that the governor

12:24 should take or must take during a hung assembly or during the loss of confidence

12:29 or if the no confidence votes gets passed.

12:31 There should also be a continuous review of the discretionary acts to prevent

12:36 any kind of federal subversion and also

12:38 mandatory timebound floor test should be there

12:41 within the 48 to 72 72 hours that should be provided into the constitution

12:48 and these should be legalized and they

12:50 should be provided a constitutional basis.

12:52 so that they could be followed everywhere.

12:55 Now when it comes to the governor's office,

12:56 it was intended to be a linkage or a bridge

13:00 to act between the center and the states.

13:03 It was never intended to be a tool for the political disruptions.

13:07 But we have seen that governor's position

13:09 had been taken advantage of by the center

13:12 and that is the point of contention that is between the center and the states.

13:16 The strength of the Indian democracy it lies in the rule of law that is

13:20 following the spirit of the constitution of India

13:22 and also the primacy of the legislature.

13:25 This should be at the heart of our Indian democracy.

13:28 So that would be all in this video.

13:30 I hope that you have the complete understanding

13:31 that what are the provisions for the governor as well

13:34 as for the chief minister and what are the conventions

13:36 that are there laid down in our Indian governance model.

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14:10 So that would be all in this video.

14:12 Thank you very much guys for staying with me till the end and to know

14:15 about the complete structure that we have when

14:18 it comes to the governance in the states.

14:21 So that would be all.

14:22 Thank you.

14:22 Bye-bye.

14:22 Take care and jin.

14:23 Do take care of yourself and also do not forget to like,

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14:29 that you do not miss any of the updates.

14:31 Thank you.

14:31 Bye-bye.

14:32 Take care and jaded.