President

of India
Dr. Neha Pandey
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Journalism & Mass
Communication
Berhampur university
Article 52: There shall be a President of India.

 Highest office of India

 First citizen of India (1st election held in 1952)

Article 54: President of India is elected by Electoral College which consist of

 Elected member of Lok Sabha

 Elected member of Rajya Sabha ( not nominated by President, which are 12 nos)

 Elected member of State Legislative Assemblies ( not nominated by Governor)

 And, the Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories of New Delhi and Pondicherry ( since 1992 allowed-
CAA 1992), Jammu and Kashmir (after 2019)
Article 55: Deals with mechanism of election process

 Indirect election

 Secret Ballot (The party whip does not apply in this election)

 Proportional Representation by means of

 a single transferrable vote system

Article 56: Terms of President Office is of 5 years

Article 57: Re-election

Qualification of a person to contest for the President:

 Citizen of India

 Should have completed 35 years of age

 Should not hold any office of profit

 Should be qualified for election as a member of Lok Sabha

Article 75: The disputes related to the election of the President of India are challenged only in Supreme Court, and the
decision of the Supreme Court is final and exclusive.
Anybody who wants to contest election of President, he /she should deposit

 Security Deposit: 15,000/ it will not be refunded of candidate fails to the get 1/6 th of votes polled.

 Nomination: A candidate for election to the office of President must be subscribed by at least 50 electors
as proposers and 50 electors as seconders. (since1974)

 Certified copy of registered voter (electoral roll) of any of the Parliamentary constituencies.

Article 60: Talks about the Oath by the President of India

Administered by the Chief Justice of India and in his absence the senior most judges of the Supreme Court
(Acting President should also take same kind of Oath even if he is in that post for one day).
Article 61: Impeachment (Removal) of President is borrowed from American Constitution. In India, no president has been removed so
far.

But, Constitution has provision for removing President of India and reason should be violation of the Constitution.

 Charges can be initiated in any of the house

 All the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (elected and nominated)

 Members of Legislative Assemblies of Sates and Union Territories can’t take part in the process of Impeachment

 The house initiates the process by levelling the charges against the President.

 Signed by at least one quarter of the total members of that house

 The charges are contained in a notice.

 14 days’ notice is given to the President

 After resolution is passed by a two-third majority of the total number of members of the originating house it is sent to the other house

 The other house investigates the charges that have been made.

 During this process, the President has the right to defend oneself through an authorised counsel.

 If the second house also approves the charges made by special majority again, the President stands impeached and is deemed to have
vacated his/her office from the date when such a resolution stands passed.
 Article 62: Vacancy

The vacancy occurs, on:

 On the expiry of tenure of five years

 Resignation

 Resignation: President addressed his/her resignation to Vice-President of India. Vice-President gives to President of India.

 Impeachment

 Death

 Or, otherwise, if the election of the President is declared void by the Supreme Court

 In case of vacancy in the office of the President, the Vice-President acts as the President (except in the case of completion of
tenure). In case of vacancy arising out in the office of the Vice-President, the Chief Justice of India acts as the President.

 In case of vacancy, the election should be held within a period of Six months
Powers and Duties of the President of India

The President exercises the powers conferred on him by the Constitution subject to the following limitations:

(i) Ministers other than the Prime Minister are to be appointed only on the advice of the Prime minister.

(ii) The executive power shall be exercised by the President in accordance with the advice of the Council of
Ministers. The saving grace is that the President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider the advice
tendered to him. In one case, a recommendation was made to the President by the Prime Minister that a certain
State government should be dismissed under the powers of the President.

The matter was referred back to the Prime Minister for reconsideration. The government decided to withdraw the
decision in reference to the advice of the President. In case the Prime minister had considered the Presidential
advice but decided to stick to the former decision, the President would have had no choice but to agree. The
President is bound to act in accordance with the advice tendered after reconsideration. It is obligatory for the
President to act in accordance with ministerial advice once it has been reconsidered.
Administrative Powers:

• The President remains the formal head of the administration. The various departments of the government are under the
control and responsibility of the respective Ministers in charge. All contracts and assurances of property made on behalf of
the Government of India are expressed to be made in the name of the President. The President however shall have a right to
be informed of the affairs of the Union government.

• The President appoints and has powers to remove high dignitaries of the state. These include the Prime Minister and other
Ministers of the Union Cabinet.

• The President also appoints the Attorney General for India, the Auditor and Comptroller General of India, Members of the
Finance Commission, Union Public Service Commission, Chief Election Commissioner and other members of the
Commission, special Officers such as those for Linguistic Minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, etc.

• In making some of these appointments, the President, under provisions of the Constitution, consults persons other than his
own ministers. The President of India does not have any absolute power to appoint any officer or official of the government.
Federal offices are filled by the Union Public Service Commission.
Military Powers:

• The President has the powers to take action as to declaration of war or peace but the exercise of such powers is to be
regulated by the Parliament.

• The President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

• However, he has no powers that he could exercise on his own in this capacity. The ritual is meaningful only to the extent
that it puts the Armed Forces under the command of a civilian authority.

Diplomatic Power:

• The task of negotiating treaties and agreements with other countries, subject to ratification by the Parliament, belongs to the
President but here again he has to act on the advice of his Ministers.

• He has the power of appointing Indian representatives to other countries and of receiving diplomatic representatives of
other countries.
Judicial Power:
• He appoints the Chief justice and the judges of Supreme Court and High
Courts
• He can ask for advice of Supreme Court on any question of law of fact. The
advice rendered by SC is not binding upon President.
• He has pardoning power
Legislative Powers:

• These include Summoning (Beginning of the Parliament session), Prorogation (end of the Parliament session) and
Dissolution of the Houses of the Parliament and dissolution of the lower House (Lok Sabha).

• The President also summons a joint sitting of both House of Parliament in case of a deadlock between them.

• The President addresses both Houses assembled at the first session after the conclusion of each general election. The
opening address is used to announce the programme of the Cabinet for the session.

Right to Address and send Messages:

• The President also has the right to address either House or their joint sitting at any time and to require the attendance of members for this
purpose.

• He may send messages to either House in regard to any pending Bill or any other matter. The House must consider the message.

Right to Nominating Members to the House:

• In the Upper House (Council of States or the Rajya Sabha) 12 members are to be nominated by the President.
Prior Sanction to Legislation:

The Constitution requires prior sanction/recommendation of the President in respect of the following:

i. Bill for formation of new States or alteration of boundaries, Money Bills.

ii. Bill that would involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India. Bill affecting taxation in which States are
interested.

Assent to Legislation:

• Every Bill passed by the two Houses of the Parliament is presented before the President for his assent.

• He may declare his assent or return the Bill for reconsideration (Money Bills cannot be returned).

• If the Bill sent for reconsideration is passed by the Houses without any amendment and resubmitted for President’s
assent, it is obligatory on the part of the President to give his assent to it.
• There is no time limit as to for how long can the President keep with him a Bill passed by both Houses and
sent for his assent.
• He may keep it for an indefinite period on his desk.
• A Bill reserved for the consent of the President has no legal effect until the President declares his assent and
the provisions have been notified in the Government Gazette.

Ordinance making power:

• Article 123 of the Constitution, the President has the power to legislate by Ordinance at a time when it is not
possible to have a parliamentary enactment on the subject immediately. An Ordinance however cannot
contravene the Fundamental Rights.

• The power is to be exercised on the advice of the Council of Ministers. The Ordinance must be laid before
Parliament when it re-assembles and automatically ceases to have effect at the expiry of six weeks from the
date of reassembly.
Veto power:
The three types of Vetoes are:
• Absolute Veto: The power of the President to withhold the assent to the bill
This veto is exercised in two cases usually:
 With respect to private members’ bill, and
 With respect to the government bills when the cabinet resigns
e.g. 1954 Dr. Rajendra Prasad withhold his assent to the PEPSU Appropriation Bill
1991 R. Venkataraman with held his assent to the salary, allowances and pension of
MPs Bill.
• Suspensive Veto: The power of the President to return the bill to the Parliament with or
without consideration
• But, this veto can be override by re-passage of the bill by the ordinary majority
• Pocket Veto: The President has power to keep bill on the table for an indefinite time
period.
• e.g. 1996, President Zail Singh exercised this pocket veto with respect to Indian Post
Emergency Powers:

• The President has the power to proclaim emergency if he is satisfied that there is a danger to the security of the
country due to external aggression or armed rebellion. The Proclamation of emergency has to be approved by the
Parliament within one month.

• The Proclamation remains effective for six months and can be extended by resolution by both Houses of the
Parliament. During the period of emergency, the President remains the administrator for the whole country. The
Parliament acquires powers to make laws even on the subjects that are in the State Lists.

• A Financial Emergency can be proclaimed if the President is satisfied that the financial stability of the country is
threatened. During such emergency, the salaries of all government servants can be reduced.
• The President can proclaim President’s rule in a State on the recommendation of the Governor if he is satisfied that
the constitutional machinery of a state has broken down. Under such emergency the Governor of the state
administers on his behalf. The President has power to suspend the provision of the Constitution relating to any
authority of the state excepting those relating to the High Court.

• While the Constitution makes the President a Constitutional head, he still retains several discretionary powers. He
can use his discretion in the appointment of the Prime Minister in case no single party commands an absolute
majority in the Lok Sabha.

The Pardoning power:

• Article 72 : As Head of the Executive, the President has powers to grant pardon to persons who have been tried and
convicted of some offence.

• Besides these the President also has several miscellaneous powers which may be said to be residuary n nature.
• Pardon: It removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely
absolves the convict from all sentences, punishments and dis qualification
• Commutation: It denotes the substitution of one form of punishment or another
of a lighter form. For example, a death sentence may be commuted to rigorous
imprisonment, which in turn may be commuted to simple imprisonment
• Remission: It reduces the period of the sentence without changing its character
e.g. a sentence of imprisonment for 1 year may be remitted to 6 months.
• Respite: It means awarding a lesser sentence instead of one originally awarded
due to some special fact, e.g. the physical disability of a convict or the pregnancy
of a woman offender.
• Reprieve: It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence (especially that of
death) for a temporary period. Its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to
seek pardon or commutation from the President.
Thank you