THE UNION EXECUTIVE

( Article 52-78)
Chapter4-Topic 2

The Vice- President

The Council Of Minister and Prime
Minister
 The Attorney General
 The Vice-President

Article 63 of the Indian Constitution says

that there shall be a Vice-President of India.
He doesn’t have much functions or powers.
However, this post was inspired by the Constitution
of the U.S.
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (13-May-52 to 12-May-
62) was the first Vice-President of India.

The Vice-President shall be the ex-officio

Chairman of Rajya Sabha (Article 64).
Ex-officio means by virtue of holding the
office.
Article 65: The Vice President shall act as the
President in the event of a vacancy in the office of the
President by reason of his death, resignation or
removal or otherwise.
Provided that during any period when the
Vice-President acts as the President or discharge the
function of the President under Art. 65, he shall not
perform the duties of the office of the Chairman of
the Council of States and shall not be entitle to any
salary or allowances payable to the Chairman of the
Council of States as under Art. 97.
However, he can act as the President only
for a maximum period of six months, within which a
new President has to be elected.
 Under Article 66, the Vice President is elected
by an electoral college consisting of the members of
the two houses of the Parliament in accordance with
the system of proportional representation by means of
a single transferable vote. (It includes nominated
members also).
A sitting Vice President is eligible for reelection.
The Vice-President can be removed from office
by a resolution of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha),
passed by a majority of its members at that time and
agreed to by the House of the People (Lok Sabha).
(Article 67)
The ground on which he can be removed is
not mentioned in the Constitution.
 Article 68: This article talk about the time of
holding the elections to fill vacancy in the office of Vice
President and the term of office of the Vice President to
fill casual vacancy.
Article 69: Oath of the Vice President( President
administers the oath).
Article 70: Discharge of the functions of the President
in other contingencies.
Article 71: Disputes related to the election of the
Vice President can be challenged only in Supreme Court.
The decision of Supreme Court is final and exclusive.
 The Council Of Ministers
Art 74 (1): It provides that, "There shall be a
Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to
aid and advise the President who shall in exercise of his/her
functions act in accordance with such advice.”

Article 75 stipulates that the Prime Minister shall be

appointed by the President. Other ministers shall be
appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime
Minister.

The Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the

President, but they cannot be removed so long as they have
the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha, In
fact, according to the Constitution, Ministers
are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha Art. 75 (3).
 If the Lok Sabha passes a 'no-confidence
motion', the entire Council of Ministers including PM
has to resign. A no-confidence motion is a legislative
motion brought by the members of the Lok Sabha,
expressing lack of trust in the Council of Ministers.
That is why, it is said that the Ministers
swim and sink together.

A person who is not a member of either

House can also become a minister for not more than 6
months unless he secures a seat in either House of
Parliament [by election or nomination) in the mean
time (Art 75 (5).
 Ministers may be taken from members of
either House and minister who is member of one House
has the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of
the other House but cannot vote in the House of which he
is not member (Art.88).

• The original Constitution did not mention the strength of

the Council of Ministers.
• After the 91st Amendment Act (2003) - the strength of the
Council of Minister including the Prime Minister should
not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha
(Article 75 (1A)).
• The word “Cabinet” is not originally mentioned in the
Constitution. It was added in Article 352 in the year 1978
through 44th Amendment Act.
Council of Minister:
Cabinet Ministers Head important ministries
of Central Government
Attend Cabinet Meetings and
decide policies
Supreme Executive Authority
Ministers of States Independent charge of
ministries/departments
Works under supervision and guidance
of Cabinet Ministers
Not members of cabinet and donot
attend Cabinet meetings
Deputy Ministers Assist ministers to whom they are attached
Perform administrative duties.
 The Prime Minister
Art 74 (1): It provides that, "There shall be a Council of
Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the
President who shall in exercise of his functions act in accordance
with such advice.

Art 75 (1): The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the

President and other Ministers shall be appointed by the President on
the advice of the Prime Minister.

• The general principle is that the President appoints the leader of the
majority party in the Lok Sabha as the Prime Minister
• If no party gets a clear majority then the President may exercise his personal
discretion in the appointment of the Prime Minister.
• The Prime Minister holds pre-eminent position, second
only to the President.
• He is principal advisor to the President and holds
enormous powers.
• He presides over the meeting of council of Ministers. A
Minster may be a member of either house of the
Parliament. The Prime Minister may be a member of
any of the two houses of the Parliament.
• He allocates & reshuffles various portfolios among the
Ministers.
• He guides, directs, controls & coordinates the activities
of the Ministers.
• Along with other ministers he is also responsible to Lok
Sabha and individually responsible to the President.
• He is the link between President and the Cabinet.
• Prime Ministers who were the members of Rajya
Sabha:
• Indira Gandhi (1966)
• Deve Gowda (1996)
• I. K. Gujral (1997)
• Manmohan Singh (2004

Art. 78 envisages duties of Prime Minister in

respect of furnishing information to the President.
• Prime Minister is the key link between the Cabinet
and the Parliament and keystone of Cabinet
architecture.
• It shall be the duty of the Prime Minister to communicate to the
President all decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to the
administration of the affairs of the Government and proposals
for the legislation.
• The PM advises the President with respect to the appointment
of Attorney General, Union Public Service Commission
Chairman and Members, Comptroller and Auditor General,
Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners,
Chairman and members of Finance Commission etc.
• The PM advises the President with regard to the summoning
and proroguing of the Parliament.
• The PM recommends the President for the dissolution of Lok
Sabha.
• The PM is the Chairman of Planning Commission, National
Development Council, National Integration Council, National
Population Council, Inter-State Council, National Water
Resource Council, National Disaster management etc.
• DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
• The office the Deputy Minister is not
mentioned in the Constitution.
• So far 6 persons served as the Deputy Prime
Ministers of India.
– Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
– Morarji Desai
– Charan Singh
– Babu Jagjeevan Ram
– Devi Lal
– LK Advani
 The Attorney General
 Attorney General of India is appointed by the
President of India under Article 76(1) of the
Constitution and holds office during the pleasure of the
President.
 He must be a person qualified to be appointed as a
Judge of the Supreme Court (That means, he should be a
citizen of India and a judge of some high court for five years
or an advocate of some high court for ten years or should be
an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the president.)
 The Attorney General of India is the highest law
officer of the country. He is responsible to assist the
government in all its legal matters.
• The AG receives such remuneration as the
president may determine. The constitution has
not fixed the remuneration of the AG.
Below are the duties and functions of the AG:
(1) He gives advice to the Government of India
upon such legal matters, which are referred or
assigned to him by the president.
(2) He performs such other duties of a legal
character that are referred or assigned to him
by the president.
(3) He discharges the functions conferred on
him by or under the Constitution or any other
law.
In the performance of his official duties:
(1) He appears on behalf of the Government of
India in all the cases in Supreme Court in which
the Government of India is concerned.
(2) He appears on behalf of the government of
India in any reference made by the president to
the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the
Constitution.
(3) He appears on behalf of the government of
India in any case in a high court in which the
Government of India is concerned, if
Government of India requires so.
Following are the Rights of the AG:
(1) In the performance of his duties, he has right
of audience in all courts in the territory of India.
(2) He has the right to speak or to take part in the
proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament and
their joint sittings, but without a right to vote.
(3) He has the right to speak or to take part in the
meeting of any committee of the Parliament of
which he is named as a member, but without a
right to vote.
(4) He enjoys all the privileges and immunities that
are available to a member of parliament.
Below mentioned are the Limitations placed on the
Attorney General:
(1) He should not advise or hold a brief against the
Government of India.
(2) He should not defend accused persons in
criminal cases without the permission of the
Government of India.
(3) He should not accept appointment as a director
in any company without the permission of
government.
It should be noted that the AG is not debarred from
private legal practice. He is not a government
servant as he is not paid fixed salary and his
remuneration is decided by the president.