Sarkaria Commission

This commission was set up in 1983 by the central government of India, to examine the center-state relationship on various portfolios and suggest changes within the framework of Constitution of India.

Chairperson- Justice Ranjit Sigh Sarkaria (retired judge of the Supreme Court of India).
other members- Shri B. Sivaraman, Dr. S. R. Sen and Shri Rama Subramaniam.

Recommendations-
It is widely accepted that to whatever extent the Commission suggested change, the recommendations were not implemented by the government. The report contain 247 recommendations.

One of the major recommendation was given over the appointment of Governor.
Recommendations on Appointment of Governor :

• should be an eminent person;
• must be a person from outside the State;
• must not have participated in active politics at least for some time before his appointment;
• He/She should be a detached person and not too intimately connected with the local politics of the State;
• He/She should be appointed in consultation with the Chief Minister of the State, Vice-President of India and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha;
• His/Her tenure of office must be guaranteed and should not be disturbed except for extremely compelling reasons and if any action is to be taken against him he/she must be given a reasonable opportunity for showing cause against the grounds on which he is sought to be removed. In case of such termination or resignation of the Governor, the Government should lay before both the Houses of Parliament a statement explaining the circumstances leading to such removal or resignation, as the case may be;
• After demitting his/her office, the person appointed as Governor should not be eligible for any other appointment or office of profit under the Union or a State Government except for a second term as Governor or election as Vice-President or President of India, as the case may be; and
• At the end of his/her tenure, reasonable post-retirement benefits should be provided.

The commission had submitted its final report in January, 1988. Some of the recommendations have been adopted such as governor to be from outside the state. The SC has many times emphasized the urgent need for implementing Sarkaria commission’s recommendations on selection and appointment of governors.

-Shikhar Swami