Governor Bound by State Cabinet Advice on Remission, Premature Release: Madras HC
The judges said the Supreme Court had consistently held the Governor could not exercise any discretion while exercising powers under Article 161 of the Constitution.
Chennai: A three-member bench of the Madras high court on Thursday ruled that the Governor is bound by the advice of the council of ministers while exercising powers under Article 161 of the Constitution on matters relating to remission and release of convicts. Answering a reference made by a Division bench of the same court, the three-member bench comprising Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira, Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan and Justice Sunder Mohan also stated that the Governor, under no circumstance, could exercise any discretion whatsoever to take a different view from the one taken by the council of Ministers.
The three-member looked into the matter after a division bench consisting Justice M.S. Ramesh and V. Lakshminarayanan referred it to a larger bench in September 2025 following two conflicting judgments delivered in 2024 by two other division benches of the high court on the issue. The three-member bench concurred with the Tamil Nadu government’s view that the issue had been settled by a Constitution Bench of Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, Justice P.N. Bhagwati, Justice Syed Murtaza Fazalali and Justice A.D. Koshal of the Supreme in 1980.
The judges said the Supreme Court had consistently held the Governor could not exercise any discretion while exercising powers under Article 161 of the Constitution. They also pointed out that the Supreme Court position was reflected even in its recent decision on the Governor’s power to withhold Bills passed by the State legislature.