News Highlight:
- The Governor of Tamil Nadu, in the customary Governor’s address to Members of the Tamil Nadu Assembly (on January 9, the first session for 2023), skipped an important and politically significant paragraph which has stirred up controversy in the State.
- The paragraph in question referred to the Dravidian model of governance, which has great political and cultural significance, especially in Tamil Nadu.
Key Takeaway:
Article 176 of the Constitution requires the Governor to mandatorily address the Members of the legislature at the commencement of the first session of each year and to inform them of the causes of its summons.
Constitutional provision:
- The Constitution gives the President (Article 87) and the Governor (Article 176) the power to address a legislature sitting.
- The extraordinary power is about two occasions.
- The first is to address the opening session of a new legislature after a general election.
- The second is to address the first sitting of the legislature each year.
- Commonly referred to as the President’s or Governor’s Address, they are a constitutional requirement.
- A new or continuing legislature session cannot begin without fulfilling this requirement.
Special address by the Governor:
- Article 176 Clause 1:
- At the commencement of (the first session after each general election to the Legislative Assembly and at the commencement of the first session of each year), the Governor shall address the Legislative Assembly or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, both Houses assembled together and inform the Legislature of the causes of its summons.
- Article 176 Clause 2:
- Clause two says that the legislature will discuss the matters referred to in such an address.
- The “address” here means the complete address, not a shortened or mix up version.
- Therefore, what the Governor reads before the legislators is a complete address whose entire contents are to be mandatorily discussed by the legislators in the House.
Significance of Art 176:
- The address under Article 176 contains the policies and programmes of the elected government of the State, which is accountable to the legislature. Executive accountability to the people’s elected representatives is the essence of parliamentary democracy.
- Through the address that the Governor is mandated to give at the commencement of the first session of each year, the government informs the legislature of its major legislative programmes for that year, its achievements in the previous year, and a clear outline of its developmental programmes for the future.
- These programmes and policies of the government are conveyed to the legislature through the Governor. Thus, the address under Article 176 assumes great importance.
- The address the Governor gives under Article 176 is the address prepared by the government.
- It does not contain any of the personal views of the Governor but only the policies and the programmes of the elected government.
Pic Courtesy: The Hindu
Content Source: The Hindu