President Murmu amends Inter-State Council Order to include Governors, LGs during central rule

New Delhi [India], September 21 (ANI): President Droupadi Murmu on Monday amended the Inter-State Council Order, 1990, to provide for the participation of Governors and Lieutenant Governors in meetings of the Inter-State Council when specified constitutional or statutory provisions are in force in their respective States or Union Territories (UTs).

The amendment was notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs on September 9, mentioning that the President made the order to amend the Inter-State Council Order, 1990, exercising the powers conferred under Article 263 of the Constitution.

The Inter-State Council (Amendment) Order, 2026, came into force with immediate effect soon after the publication of the order.

Under the amended order, the existing proviso in Clause 2 of the Inter-State Council Order, 1990, has been substituted with a new provision specifying four situations in which the concerned Governor or Lieutenant Governor shall be invited to attend Council meetings.

According to the notification, when a proclamation issued by the President under Article 356 of the Constitution is in force in relation to a state, the Governor of that state shall be invited to attend meetings of the Inter-State Council.

Similarly, when an order issued by the President under Article 239AB is in force in relation to the National Capital Territory, the Lieutenant Governor of the NCT (National Capital Territory) shall be invited to attend the meetings.

The amended order also covers the Union Territory of Puducherry. If an order issued by the President under Section 51 of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 is in force, the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry shall be invited to attend Council meetings.

In the case of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Lieutenant Governor shall be invited when an order issued by the President under Section 73 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 is in force.

The Inter-State Council was established under Article 263 of the Constitution through the Inter-State Council Order, 1990. The original order was published in the Gazette of India on May 28, 1990, and was subsequently amended in July 1990 and December 1996. (ANI)