Governor’s Rule: Constitutional Status And Implementation

What is the constitutional status of Governor’s Rule? How will it be implemented? And how long can a governor rule in a province? The answers to these questions have been clarified in the Constitution.

Under Article 234 of the Constitution, on the report of the Governor of the concerned province, if the President is convinced that the provincial government cannot conduct affairs in accordance with the Constitution and law, he should enforce the Governor’s Rule.

Another way to enforce the Governor’s Rule is if both the Houses of Parliament in their separate sessions pass resolutions for the implementation of the Governor’s Rule in a province, then the President implements them and issues a Presidential Decree to implement the Governor’s Rule.

Prior to the 18th Amendment, in order for a province to have a Governor’s Rule through Parliament, it was necessary for such a resolution to be passed in a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate, but now government have to pass separate resolutions in both houses.

On the basis of this announcement, it is necessary to issue a presidential decree which will be submitted for approval in the joint sitting of Parliament. Referring to this, Article 234 (3) of the Constitution states that the Presidential Decree to implement the Governor’s Rule shall remain in force for a maximum period of two months till the approval of the Parliament.

Constitutionally, Parliament can extend the Governor’s Rule by a maximum of two times for a period of two months, thus a Governor’s Rule cannot be enforced in a province for more than six months, in Article 234 (4) of the Constitution.

It has been clarified that if the National Assembly is dissolved, the term of the Governor will be 3 months, but government can approve the extension from the Senate, even in that case, the maximum term of the Governor will be 6 months.

The main purpose of Article 334 of the Constitution is to hand over the affairs of the government to the Federal Government in case of failure of the provincial government to run the government in accordance with the Constitution so as to end the state of anarchy in the province.

Parliament can also take matters into its own hands. After the enactment of the Governor’s Rule, the Governor is freed from the restrictions of Article 105 of the Constitution.

Under Article 105, the Governor performs his duties only on the advice of the Cabinet or the Chief Minister. He conducts administrative matters under the powers vested in him by the President.