List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry

Puducherry (formerly known as "Pondicherry") is a Union Territory of India. Governance and administration of the territory fall directly under federal authority.

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry
புதுச்சேரி லெப்டினன்ட் கவர்னர்

పుదుచ్చేరి లెఫ్టినెంట్ గవర్నర్

പുതുച്ചേരി ലെഫ്റ്റനന്റ് ഗവർണർ
Lieutenants-gouverneurs de Pondichéry
Emblem of Puducherry
Incumbent
Tamilisai Soundararajan
since 18 February 2021
StyleHer Excellency (formal)
The Honorable (unformal)
Reports toPresident of India
Government of India
ResidenceRaj Niwas, Puducherry
AppointerPresident of India on the advice of the Government of India
Term length5 Years
Inaugural holderS. L. Silam
Formation14 October 1963 (1963-10-14)

Chief Commissioner (1954 – 1963)
Further information: Gouverneur Général de l'Inde française
Further information: List of consuls general of India in the French India

After the de facto transfer of French settlements in India, on November 1, 1954, a Chief Commissioner, appointed by Government of India, replaced the last Commissioner of French India, Georges Escargueil. The first High Commissioner, Kewal Singh was appointed immediately after the Kizhoor referendum, on 21 October 1954, as per Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1947.[1]: 964  The Chief Commissioner had the powers of the former French commissioner, but was under the direct control of the Union Government.[2]: 198 

The list of Chief Commissioners is given below.[1]: 977 

No. Name Took office Left office De jure
sovereignty		 De facto
sovereignty
1Kewal Singh 21 October 195416 November 1956 France France
(Until Nov 1 1954)
India
(Since Nov 1 1954)
2M.K. Kripalani[3]: 103  17 November 195627 August 1958 India
3Lal Ram Saran Singh[4]: 197  30 August 19588 February 1961
4Sisir Kumar Dutta[2]: 474–475  2 May 19611 August 1963 France
(Until Aug 16 1962)
India
(Since Aug 16 1962)
5K.J. Somasundaram[5]: 445  2 August 196313 October 1963 India

Lieutenant Governors

The Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry resides at the Raj Nivas (French: Le Palais du Gouverneur) at the Nehru Park, the former palace of the Governor General of French India. The Central government is more directly involved in the financial well-being of the territory.

After de jure transfer in 1962, the State of Pondicherry is fully and legally integrated into Indian Union. After the formation of Union territory on July 1, 1963, the Lieutenant Governor has replaced High Commissioner in Pondicherry.

Only five Lt. Governors managed to serve more than four years. They are S.L. Silam, B.D.Jatti, B.T. Kulkarni, Rajani Rai and Kiran Bedi. Only S.L. Silam completed his 5-year term. Kiran Bedi is second longest serving Lt. Governor till date. The list of Lt. Governors of Puducherry is given below.[1]: 977 

No. Name Portrait Took office Left office Duration
1S.L. Silam[lower-alpha 1] 14 Oct 196313 Oct 1968 4 years, 365 days
2B.D. Jatti 14 Oct 19687 Nov 1972 4 years, 24 days
3Chhedilal 8 Nov 197229 Aug 1976 3 years, 295 days
4B.T. Kulkarni 30 Aug 197631 Oct 1980 4 years, 62 days
5Ram Kishore Vyas 1 Nov 198015 Apr 1981 165 days
-Sri Sadiq Ali[lower-alpha 2] 16 Apr 198126 Jul 1981 101 days
6R.N. Haldipur 27 Jul 198114 May 1982 291 days
7K.M. Chandy 15 May 19825 Aug 1983 1 year, 82 days
8Kona Prabhakara Rao 2 Sep 198317 Jun 1984 289 days
-S.L. Khurana[lower-alpha 2] 18 Jun 198430 Sep 1984 104 days
9Tribhuvan Prasad Tewary 1 Oct 198421 Jun 1988 3 years, 264 days
10Ranjit Singh Dyal 22 Jun 198819 Feb 1990 1 year, 242 days
11Chandrawati 19 Feb 199018 Dec 1990 302 days
12Har Swarup Singh 19 Dec 199005 Feb 1993 2 years, 48 days
-Bishma Narain Singh[lower-alpha 2] 06 Feb 199331 May 1993 2 years, 84 days
-Marri Channa Reddy[lower-alpha 2] 31 May 19931 May 1995 1 year, 335 days
13Rajendra Kumari Bajpai 2 May 199522 Apr 1998 2 years, 355 days
14Rajani Rai 23 Apr 199829 Jul 2002 4 years, 97 days
15K. R. Malkani 31 Jul 200227 Oct 2003 1 year, 88 days
-P.S. Rama Mohan Rao[lower-alpha 2] 27 Oct 20035 Jan 2004 70 days
16Nagendra Nath Jha 5 Jan 20046 Jul 2004 183 days
17M. M. Lakhera 7 Jul 200418 Jul 2006 2 years, 11 days
18Mukut Mithi 19 Jul 200612 Mar 2008 1 year, 237 days
19Bhopinder Singh 15 Mar 200822 Jul 2008 129 days
20Govind Singh Gurjar 23 Jul 20086 Apr 2009 257 days
-Surjit Singh Barnala[lower-alpha 3] 9 Apr 200927 Jul 2009 109 days
21Iqbal Singh 27 Jul 20099 Jul 2013 3 years, 347 days
22Virendra Kataria 10 Jul 201311 Jul 2014 1 year, 1 day
23A. K. Singh[6] 12 Jul 201426 May 2016 1 year, 319 days
24Kiran Bedi[7] 28 May 201616 Feb 2021 4 years, 264 days
(additional charge)Tamilisai Soundararajan[lower-alpha 4] 18 Feb 2021Incumbent 2 years, 249 days

Notes
  1. T. SIVASANKAR – Addl. Charge during leave period
  2. Governor of Tamil Nadu, Additional Charge
  3. Appointed as Administrator of Puducherry
  4. Governor of Telangana, Additional Charge

See also

References
  1. Cabinet Responsibility to Legislature. 2004. ISBN 9788120004009. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. The Statesman's Year-Book 1963: The One-Volume ENCYCLOPAEDIA of all nations. 1963. ISBN 9780230270893. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. "Civil Affairs". Monthly Journal of Local Govt. and Public Administration in India. 1958.
  4. The Statesman's Year-Book 1960: The One-Volume ENCYCLOPAEDIA of all nations. 1960. ISBN 9780230270893. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. The Statesman's Year-Book 1964-65: The One-Volume ENCYCLOPAEDIA of all nations. 2016. ISBN 9780230270930. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. "Puducherry L-G Kataria sacked". Indian Express. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  7. Cities (29 May 2016). "Kiran Bedi assumes charge as LG of Puducherry". The Indian Express. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
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