PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Organs of Government

Do the Lieutenant Governors have more powers than the Governors of the States? Explain.

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes

Route 1 Two offices, different constitutional design no flat yes/no answer turns on which UT

Route 2 Governor = constitutional head (Art 153, Part VI, Art 163 discretion) vs LG = President’s administrator (Art 239) built-in asymmetry

Body flow

Governor: advice-bound, limited discretion LG: Centre’s role stronger Delhi Art 239AA carves out public order / police / land from the Assembly LG wider reach than a state Governor here SC accepts greater power in reserved subjects but bounded by constitutional morality + no mechanical referral to President

Counter-view

Edge not uniform Puducherry (239A) lacks the same restrictions Andaman LG only administers (no legislature) Khosla: office for crises, not to displace an elected govt Kashyap: no authority supreme

Conclusion routes

Route 1 “More powers” holds only for Delhi’s reserved subjects, not as a general rule

Route 2 Asymmetry is territory-specific LG stronger where the Constitution carves out space; elsewhere the Governor remains the model

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2018, Organs of Government