Explanation:

Article 153 of the Constitution of India requires a governor to be appointed for every state in India. Like the President is for the Union, the governor is the chief executive head of a state. Governor is neither directly elected by people nor, like the president, elected by a specially constituted electoral college.Judicial powers

Grant of Pardon– Article 161 of the Constitution provides that the Governor can grant pardon, reprieve, respite and remission of punishment or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of an offense to which executive power of state extends.
Appointment of Judges– While appointing the judges of High courts, president consults Governor. He makes appointments of district judges and also looks into their posting and promotions.

Our constitution has made governor only a nominal head. Real executive power is vested in the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister. In other words, the governor has to exercise his power with the aid and advice of council of minister headed by the chief minister. But the Constitution also mentions possibilities of governor acting at times in his discretion. These can be listed into two groups i.e. constitutional discretion and situational discretion.