List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry
Emblem of Puducherry
Incumbent C. P. Radhakrishnan since 20 March 2024
Style	His Excellency (formal) The Honorable (unformal)
Reports to	President of India Government of India
Residence	Raj Niwas, Puducherry
Appointer	President of India on the advice of the Government of India
Term length	5 Years
Inaugural holder	S. L. Silam
Formation	14 October 1963 (61 years ago) (1963-10-14)

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

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. The Chief Commissioner had the powers of the former French commissioner, but was under the direct control of the Union Government.

The list of Chief Commissioners is given below.

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.

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Duration
1	Silam, S.L.S.L. Silam		14 Oct 1963	13 Oct 1968	4 years, 365 days
2	Jatti, B.D.B.D. Jatti		14 Oct 1968	7 Nov 1972	4 years, 24 days
3	, ChhedilalChhedilal		8 Nov 1972	29 Aug 1976	3 years, 295 days
4	Kulkarni, B.T.B.T. Kulkarni		30 Aug 1976	31 Oct 1980	4 years, 62 days
5	Vyas, Ram KishoreRam Kishore Vyas		1 Nov 1980	15 Apr 1981	165 days
-	Ali, Sri SadiqSri Sadiq Ali		16 Apr 1981	26 Jul 1981	101 days
6	Haldipur, R.N.R.N. Haldipur		27 Jul 1981	14 May 1982	291 days
7	Chandy, K.M.K.M. Chandy		15 May 1982	5 Aug 1983	1 year, 82 days
8	Rao, Kona PrabhakaraKona Prabhakara Rao		2 Sep 1983	17 Jun 1984	289 days
-	Khurana, S.L.S.L. Khurana		18 Jun 1984	30 Sep 1984	104 days
9	Tewary, Tribhuvan PrasadTribhuvan Prasad Tewary		1 Oct 1984	21 Jun 1988	3 years, 264 days
10	Dyal, Ranjit SinghRanjit Singh Dyal		22 Jun 1988	19 Feb 1990	1 year, 242 days
11	, ChandrawatiChandrawati		19 Feb 1990	18 Dec 1990	302 days
12	Singh, Har SwarupHar Swarup Singh		19 Dec 1990	05 Feb 1993	2 years, 48 days
-	Singh, Bishma NarainBishma Narain Singh		06 Feb 1993	31 May 1993	2 years, 84 days
-	Channa Reddy, MarriMarri Channa Reddy		31 May 1993	1 May 1995	1 year, 335 days
13	Bajpai, Rajendra KumariRajendra Kumari Bajpai		2 May 1995	22 Apr 1998	2 years, 355 days
14	Rai, RajaniRajani Rai		23 Apr 1998	29 Jul 2002	4 years, 97 days
15	Malkani, K. R.K. R. Malkani		31 Jul 2002	27 Oct 2003	1 year, 88 days
-	Rama Mohan Rao, P.S.P.S. Rama Mohan Rao		27 Oct 2003	5 Jan 2004	70 days
16	Jha, Nagendra NathNagendra Nath Jha		5 Jan 2004	6 Jul 2004	183 days
17	Lakhera, M. M.M. M. Lakhera		7 Jul 2004	18 Jul 2006	2 years, 11 days
18	Mithi, MukutMukut Mithi		19 Jul 2006	12 Mar 2008	1 year, 237 days
19	Singh, BhopinderBhopinder Singh		15 Mar 2008	22 Jul 2008	129 days
20	Gurjar, Govind SinghGovind Singh Gurjar		23 Jul 2008	6 Apr 2009	257 days
-	Barnala, Surjit SinghSurjit Singh Barnala		9 Apr 2009	27 Jul 2009	109 days
21	Singh, IqbalIqbal Singh		27 Jul 2009	9 Jul 2013	3 years, 347 days
22	Kataria, VirendraVirendra Kataria		10 Jul 2013	11 Jul 2014	1 year, 1 day
23	Singh, A. K.A. K. Singh		12 Jul 2014	26 May 2016	1 year, 319 days
24	Bedi, KiranKiran Bedi		28 May 2016	16 Feb 2021	4 years, 264 days
(additional charge)	Soundararajan, TamilisaiTamilisai Soundararajan		18 Feb 2021	18 March 2024	3 years, 30 days
(additional charge)	C. P. Radhakrishnan		20 March 2024	Incumbent	278 days