Court caseAIR 1974 SC 2192

Shamsher Singh and Ishwar Chand Agarwal were probationary Subordinate Judges in Punjab. Their services were terminated by orders issued in the name of the Governor under the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, in fact on the recommendation of the High Court and the decision of the Chief Minister. They argued that under the Rules the Governor had to be personally satisfied, and that the termination was really a punishment imposed without the enquiry that Article 311 requires. An earlier decision, Sardari Lal v. Union of India (1971), had held that the President must be personally satisfied under Article 311(2)(c).

Seven judges held that the President and the Governor are constitutional or formal heads who exercise their powers and functions, whether under the Constitution or under statutes and rules, on the aid and advice of their Council of Ministers, save in the few spheres where the Constitution itself gives the Governor a discretion. Satisfaction of the President or Governor means the satisfaction of the Government. Sardari Lal was overruled. Krishna Iyer J, in a celebrated concurrence, said that the President is the symbol of the nation and the Cabinet the real executive, and that a system under which the head of State acted on his own judgement would be a different Constitution. On the facts, Agarwal's termination was found to be punitive and set aside; Shamsher Singh's appeal was dismissed.