The Supreme Court today said that the governors of states cannot be changed in an arbitrary and capricious manner with the change of power. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan held that a governor can be replaced only under compelling reasons for proven misconduct or other irregularities. The apex court said though the Governor is appointed and remains in office at the pleasure of the President, he or she cannot be removed merely because they are not in sync with the party in power. The bench said the Governor can be removed only under compelling reasons and what the compelling reasons are depends on facts and situations of a particular case. During the arguments, the Centre had contended that the conflict of Governor's view with the national policy could invite his or her removal from the office by cutting short the five-year tenure. The Centre had said that the Governors act as a bridge between the Centre and the state governments and as such they cannot disagree on their own with the views of the government. It had argued that under the mandate of democracy if a particular party is voted to power with particular socio-economic agenda, the Governors cannot say they do not agree with that. The bench also comprising Justices S H Kapadia, R V Raveendran, B Sudershan Reddy and P Sathasivam gave a unanimous verdict on the issue. The landmark decision came on a PIL filed was in 2004 by then BJP MP B P Singhal challenging the removal of Governors of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Orissa by the previous UPA government.