# List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry

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

## Chief Commissioner (1954 – 1963)

| No. | Name | Took office | Left office |
| 2 | Mirza Rashid Ali Baig | circa 1947 | November 1949 |
| 2 | S.K. Banerjee | 31 November 1949 | June 1950 |
| 3 | R.K. Tandon | 10 June 1950 | circa October 1953 |
| 4 | Kewal Singh | circa October 1953 | 21 October 1954 |
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.$^{:964}$ The Chief Commissioner had the powers of the former French commissioner, but was under the direct control of the Union Government.$^{:198}$
The list of Chief Commissioners is given below.$^{:977}$
| No. | Name | Took office | Left office | De jure sovereignty | De facto sovereignty |
| 1 | Kewal Singh | 21 October 1954 | 16 November 1956 | France | France (Until Nov 1 1954) India (Since Nov 1 1954) |
| 2 | M.K. Kripalani$^{:103}$ | 17 November 1956 | 27 August 1958 | France | India |
| 3 | Lal Ram Saran Singh$^{:197}$ | 30 August 1958 | 8 February 1961 | France | India |
| 4 | Sisir Kumar Dutta$^{:474–475}$ | 2 May 1961 | 1 August 1963 | France (Until Aug 16 1962) India (Since Aug 16 1962) | India |
| 5 | K.J. Somasundaram$^{:445}$ | 2 August 1963 | 13 October 1963 | India | 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.$^{:977}$
| No. | Name | Took office | Left office | Duration |
| 1 | S.L. Silam | 14 Oct 1963 | 13 Oct 1968 | 4 years, 365 days |
| 2 | B.D. Jatti | 14 Oct 1968 | 7 Nov 1972 | 4 years, 24 days |
| 3 | Chhedilal | 8 Nov 1972 | 29 Aug 1976 | 3 years, 295 days |
| 4 | B.T. Kulkarni | 30 Aug 1976 | 31 Oct 1980 | 4 years, 62 days |
| 5 | Ram Kishore Vyas | 1 Nov 1980 | 15 Apr 1981 | 165 days |
| - | Sri Sadiq Ali | 16 Apr 1981 | 26 Jul 1981 | 101 days |
| 6 | R.N. Haldipur | 27 Jul 1981 | 14 May 1982 | 291 days |
| 7 | K.M. Chandy | 15 May 1982 | 5 Aug 1983 | 1 year, 82 days |
| 8 | Kona Prabhakara Rao | 2 Sep 1983 | 17 Jun 1984 | 289 days |
| - | S.L. Khurana | 18 Jun 1984 | 30 Sep 1984 | 104 days |
| 9 | Tribhuvan Prasad Tewary | 1 Oct 1984 | 21 Jun 1988 | 3 years, 264 days |
| 10 | Ranjit Singh Dyal | 22 Jun 1988 | 19 Feb 1990 | 1 year, 242 days |
| 11 | Chandrawati | 19 Feb 1990 | 18 Dec 1990 | 302 days |
| 12 | Har Swarup Singh | 19 Dec 1990 | 05 Feb 1993 | 2 years, 48 days |
| - | Bishma Narain Singh | 06 Feb 1993 | 31 May 1993 | 2 years, 84 days |
| - | Marri Channa Reddy | 31 May 1993 | 1 May 1995 | 1 year, 335 days |
| 13 | Rajendra Kumari Bajpai | 2 May 1995 | 22 Apr 1998 | 2 years, 355 days |
| 14 | Rajani Rai | 23 Apr 1998 | 29 Jul 2002 | 4 years, 97 days |
| 15 | K. R. Malkani | 31 Jul 2002 | 27 Oct 2003 | 1 year, 88 days |
| - | P.S. Rama Mohan Rao | 27 Oct 2003 | 5 Jan 2004 | 70 days |
| 16 | Nagendra Nath Jha | 5 Jan 2004 | 6 Jul 2004 | 183 days |
| 17 | M. M. Lakhera | 7 Jul 2004 | 18 Jul 2006 | 2 years, 11 days |
| 18 | Mukut Mithi | 19 Jul 2006 | 12 Mar 2008 | 1 year, 237 days |
| 19 | Bhopinder Singh | 15 Mar 2008 | 22 Jul 2008 | 129 days |
| 20 | Govind Singh Gurjar | 23 Jul 2008 | 6 Apr 2009 | 257 days |
| - | Surjit Singh Barnala | 9 Apr 2009 | 27 Jul 2009 | 109 days |
| 21 | Iqbal Singh | 27 Jul 2009 | 9 Jul 2013 | 3 years, 347 days |
| 22 | Virendra Kataria | 10 Jul 2013 | 11 Jul 2014 | 1 year, 1 day |
| 23 | A. K. Singh | 12 Jul 2014 | 26 May 2016 | 1 year, 319 days |
| 24 | Kiran Bedi | 28 May 2016 | 16 Feb 2021 | 4 years, 264 days |
| - | Tamilisai Soundararajan (additional charge) | 18 Feb 2021 | 18 March 2024 | 3 years, 30 days |
| - | C.P. Radhakrishnan (additional charge) | 20 March 2024 | 6 August 2024 | 134 days |
| 25 | Kuniyil Kailashnathan | 7 August 2024 | Incumbent | 224 days |