Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R).
Assertion (A) : According to the Constitution of India, the same person cannot function as the Governor of

Question

Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R).
Assertion (A) : According to the Constitution of India, the same person cannot function as the Governor of two or more States at the same time.
Reason (R) : Article 153 of the Indian Constitution states that there shall be a Governor for each State.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below :

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, (A) is false, but (R) is true. Article 153 reads in full: 'There shall be a Governor for each State: Provided that nothing in this article shall prevent the appointment of the same person as Governor for two or more States.' The Reason quotes the main clause word for word, so the Reason is true. The Assertion asserts the exact opposite of the proviso, so the Assertion is false — the Constitution does not merely tolerate a shared Governorship, it authorises it expressly, and it does so inside the very Article the Assertion relies on. The proviso was added by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, the amendment that carried the States Reorganisation Act of the same year into the constitutional text, and the drafters built the consequences in at the same time: Article 158(3A), also inserted by the Seventh Amendment, provides that 'Where the same person is appointed as Governor of two or more States, the emoluments and allowances payable to the Governor shall be allocated among the States in such proportion as the President may by order determine.' A clause about how to split one Governor's salary between several States would be meaningless if shared Governorships were forbidden. In practice the proviso is used constantly — whenever a Raj Bhavan falls vacant, a neighbouring State's Governor ordinarily holds additional charge until a fresh appointment is made. Since the Assertion is false, the code is (b), and the question of whether (R) explains (A) never arises.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Fails at the first step. The Reason is true, but the Assertion is not, so no verdict on the explanatory link is needed at all. Notice, though, how carefully the pairing is built to mislead: the Reason quotes only the opening words of Article 153 and stops before the colon. Read in isolation, 'there shall be a Governor for each State' does look as though it entails 'no one person may be Governor of two States' — one office, one holder. It would entail that, if the Article ended there. It does not; the proviso follows immediately and reverses the inference.  (c) The single most tempting option and the one a candidate picks who knows the first line of Article 153 and not the rest of it. The two statements do sit in an apparent explanatory relation, which is what makes the trap work. But the relation is irrelevant once the Assertion is shown to be false, and the proviso to Article 153 shows exactly that: the same person may be appointed Governor for two or more States. Article 158(3A) then goes further and legislates for the money in that situation, which puts the matter beyond argument.  (d) Both halves are wrong, which makes this the weakest option in the set. The Assertion is false for the reason given — the proviso to Article 153 permits precisely what it denies. And the Reason is not merely true but is a direct quotation: 'There shall be a Governor for each State' is the literal opening clause of Article 153. A candidate choosing (d) has inverted both judgements.

Concept: The State executive is set up by Articles 153 to 167 of Part VI. Article 153 creates the office — one Governor for each State, with an express proviso permitting one person to be Governor of two or more States. Article 154 vests the executive power of the State in the Governor, to be exercised by him directly or through officers subordinate to him. Article 155 provides that the Governor is appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal, which is the structural difference from the President, who is elected. Article 156 makes the Governor hold office during the pleasure of the President, prescribes a five-year term, and lets him continue in office until his successor enters upon it. Article 157 fixes the qualifications: a citizen of India who has completed 35 years of age. Article 158 sets the conditions of the office, including clause (3A) on splitting the emoluments of a Governor who serves more than one State and clause (4), which bars any diminution of those emoluments during his term.

State PCS 2024 Q100 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2024 Q100 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer