Breaches of constitutional conventions

(MainsGS2:Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.)

Context:

• State Assemblies in India have seen many  protests where even Governors have been involved in such protests, by skipping or omitting portions of text from the addresses prepared for them by the State governments.
• In February 1965, for instance, the then West Bengal Governor, Padmaja Naidu, walked out of the Assembly without addressing the House, annoyed by the continuous interruptions by the Opposition. 
• But what the Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessed recently is uncommon in the history of the legislature in the country as Governor R.N. Ravi refrained from reading out a paragraph.

Special address:

• India adopted the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy and Article 87 of the Indian Constitution requires the President to make a special address to both Houses of Parliament assembled on the commencement of the first session of each year. 
• The President has to inform Parliament of the causes of its summons. 
• Similarly, Article 176 requires the Governor to make a special address at the first session of each year of every State Legislative Assembly and to both Houses wherever the State also has a Legislative Council. 

Taken from United Kingdom:

• The first session of every new Parliament in the United Kingdom requires the election of the Speaker to be completed and members of both Houses to take oath. 
• Neither House of Parliament can proceed with any public business in any further session unless it is opened either by the King himself or by Lords Commissioners acting on his behalf. 
• The King’s speech is thus the formal beginning of each new session of Parliament and states the government’s policy and the intended programme of business for the forthcoming session. 
• The King’s speech is prepared by the incumbent government and a copy of it is given to him by the Lord Chancellor.

Constituent Assembly debate:

• It is interesting that during the Constituent Assembly debates, Professor K.T. Shah proposed an amendment to Article 87 giving discretion to the President to also make an address on “other particular issues of policy he deems suitable for such address”. 
• This amendment was rejected as B.R. Ambedkar pointed out that the President, under Article 86, had the right to address either House or both Houses of Parliament together and Parliament had to assemble for this purpose. Similar power was given to the Governor under Article 175. 
• Thus, when there is an independent power provided under Article 175, it is a serious impropriety for any Governor (or even the President) to omit several paragraphs from the speech prepared by the incumbent government.

Hampers legislative debates:

• The Calcutta High Court, while interpreting this article in Syed Abdul Mansur Habibullah v. The Speaker, West Bengal Legislative Assembly (1966), held that the special address is not an idle or ceremonial formality. 
• It keeps the members informed about the executive policies and legislative programme of the State government. 
• The High Court further observed that the non-delivery of the special address hampers legislative debates and budgetary criticisms.

Constitutional conventions:

• The Supreme Court has held that constitutional conventions are as much a part of the Constitution as its written text. 
• And it is well-settled that constitutional morality consists of not only adherence to the written text of the Constitution but also to constitutional conventions. 
• These conventions fill the interstices of a written Constitution and enable effective coordination between the legislature, executive and the judiciary.

Conclusion:

• The special address of the Governor is an important constitutional duty, which is performed with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head. 
• The constitutional role of the Governor is that of an elder statesman who brings a sense of gravitas to this high office, and by his oath, must preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law.