Report No. 32
23. Case-law on Article 237.-
Article 237 is an enabling provision, under which the Governor can implement the separation of judiciary from the executive in relation to the magistracy of the States. The effect of this Article was discussed in Chandra Mohan's case where the following observations occur:-
"Article 237 enables the Governor to implement the separation of the judiciary from the executive. Under this Article, the Governor may notify that Articles 233, 234, 235 and 236 of the Constitution will apply to Magistrates subject to certain modifications or exceptions; for instance, if the Governor so notifies, the said Magistrates will become members of the judicial service, they will have to be appointed in the manner prescribed in Article 234, they will be under the control of the High Court under Article 235 and they can be appointed as District Judges by the Governor under Article 233(1).
To state it differently, they will then be integrated in the judicial service which is one of the sources of recruitment to the post of District Judges. Indeed, Article 237 emphasises the fact that till such an integration is brought about, the Magistrates are outside the scope of the said provisions. The said view accords with the constitutional theme of independent judiciary and the contrary view accepts a retrograde step.".
1. Chandra Mohan v. State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1966 SC 1987 (1994), para. 19.(December issue).
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