Chennai: A Governor, regardless of personal views, is bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers when exercising power under Article 161 of the Constitution in issues concerning remission and premature release of convicts, a Full Bench of the Madras High Court ruled on Thursday.
The Bench of Justices AD Jagadish Chandira, GK Ilanthiraiyan, and Sunder Mohan, made it clear the Governor, under any circumstances, has no discretion to take a position different from that of the Council of Ministers. The ruling was issued in response to a reference made by a Division Bench.
The reference had been made in September 2025 by a Division Bench for an authoritative decision after two conflicting judgments were delivered in 2024 by separate Division Benches of the High Court on the same issue.
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In its ruling, the Full Bench agreed with submissions made by State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah and advocate Radhakrishnan that the issue had already been settled by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 1980 in the Maru Ram case. This decision was also reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 2022 while ordering the release of A.G. Perarivalan, a life convict in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He also relied on the Supreme Court’s 1974 decision in Shamsher Singh versus State of Punjab.
Agreeing with these arguments, the Full Bench observed that the Supreme Court has consistently held that the Governor cannot exercise discretion under Article 161. It noted that this principle has also been reflected in recent rulings concerning the Governor’s power to withhold Bills passed by State legislatures.
