Now I shall refer to article 238 which lays down that certain provisions of Part VI would not apply to Indian States. This section, for instance, says that articles 155, 156 and 157 shall be omitted from Part VI, i.e., they will not apply to Indian States. Article 155 lays down: “The Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.” Article 156 says: “The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.” But it has been specifically said in article 238 that article 156 shall not apply to the Indian States. That supports me in saying that the Rajpramukh does not hold office during the pleasure of the President. Further, it is curious that article 157 also does not apply. Article 157 says: “No person shall be eligible for appointment as Governor unless he is a citizen of India and has completed the age of thirty-five years.” This article does not apply to the Rajpramukh. A Rajpramukh, even if he is 21 years of age, l will be able, according to this Constitution, to carry on his duties as Rajpramukh. It is anomalous that in the case of Provinces which are said to be better administered and which are said to have a better form of Government, the Governor should have completed the age of thirty-five years whereas in the case of Indian States which are said to be less efficiently administered, the Rajpramukh who has to discharge the same duties should be allowed to be of a younger age than thirty-five. I do not know why article 157 should not have been made applicable as far as the age is concerned to the Rajpramukhs. I know there are difficulties in the way of the Covenants. The Covenants lay down that the Rajpramukhs will be governed by the rules of succession in their State and further they would be Rajpramukhs for their life. I would have been happy, and probably everybody would have been happy if the constitutional pandits could have devised some means by which the Governors and the Rajpramukhs would have been separated in the case of Indian States. The Rajpramukhs could have been given some titular office and the office of the Governor should have been newly created. It may be too late to say this at this stage; but this is a defect in the Constitution which would have to be taken into account later on when the time comes for amendment.
