Part V

The Union
The Executive
Chapter 1
The President and the Vice President
[Article 52 to 78]

The Union Executive is consists of the President, the Vice-

President, the Prime Minister, the Council of Minister and the
Attorney General of India.
Article 52 to 62 deals with the President.
The President is the head of the citizen and he is the first citizen of
India and act as the symbol of unity, integrity and solidarity of
the nation.

52. There shall be a President of India

53. Executive power: (1) The executive power of the Union shall be
vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either
directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with
this Constitution.
2) The President is the supreme commander of the defence forces of
India. He can appoint the chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air
Force.

Art. 54 Election of President

Art. 55 Manner of election of President
Art. 57. Eligibility for re-election
Election of the President:
Art. 54. The President is elected not directly by the people but by
members of electoral college and the electoral college consisting
of –
a) The elected members of both the Houses of Parliament
b) The elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States
Explanation: State include the NCT Delhi and the Union Territory of
Pondicherry.

Article 55. Manner of election of President:

(1) As far as practicable, there shall be uniformity in the scale of

representation of the different States at the election of the
President.[ means there must be uniformity in the scale of
representation of all the different states in the country to
emphasize the equivalent status of all states despite the
different in their size, population or other characteristics]
2.(a) every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State
shall have as many votes as there are multiples of one thousand
in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the State
by the total number of the elected members of the Assembly;
Value of the vote of MLA

Totoal population of state X 1

Total number of elected members in the State 1000
Legislative assembly.

After taking the said multiplies of one thousand, the remainder is

not less than five hundred, then the vote of each member
referred to in sub-clause (a) shall be further increased by one.
2.(c) Each elected member of either House of Parliament shall have
such number of votes as may be obtained by dividing the total
number of votes assigned to members of the legislative
assemblies of the state by the total number of the elected
member of both the Houses of Parliament.

Value of the vote of an MP

Total value of votes of all MLAs on all states

Total number of elected members of parliament.

3. The President’s election is held in accordance with the system fo
proportional representation by means of the single transferable
vote and the voting is by secret ballot.

A candidate, in order to be declared elected to the office of

President, must secure a fixed quota of votes.

All doubts and disputes in connection with the election of the

President are inquired into and decided by the Supreme Court
whose decision is final.

Art. 57. A person who holds, or who has held, office as President
shall, subject to the other provisions of this Constitution, be
eligible for re-election to that office
Who does not take part in the President’s elections?
• The following group of people is not involved in electing the
President of India:
• Nominated Members of Rajya Sabha.
• Nominated Members of State Legislative Assemblies
• Members of Legislative Councils (Both elected and nominated) in
bicameral legislatures
56. Term of office of President: The President holds office for a
term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his
office.
However, he can resign from his office at any time by addressing the
resignation letter to the Vice-President.

Further he can also removed from the office before completion of

his term by the process of impeachment.

The president can hold his officer beyond his term of five years until
his successors assumes charge.
Art. 58 Qualification: A person to be eligible for election as
President should fulfill the following qualification:
 He should be a citizen of India
 He should have completed 35 years of age
 He should be qualified for election as a member of Lok Sabha
 He should not any office of profit under the Union Government or
any state government or any local authority or any other public
authority.
Explanation: a sitting President or Vice-President of the Union, the
Governor of any state and a minister of the Union or any state is
not deemed to hold any office of profits and hence qualified as
presidential candidate.
Art. 59 Conditions of President’s office:
1. The President should not be a member of either House of
Parliament or a House of the state legislature. If any person is
elected as President, he is deemed to have vacated his seat in
that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as
President.
2. He should not hold any other office of profit.
3. He is entitled, without payment of rent, to the use of his official
residence.
4. He is entitled to such emoluments, allowance and privileges as
may be determined by the Parliament
5. His emoluments and allowance cannot be diminished during his
term of office.
Art. 60 Oath or affirmation by the President: Before entering upon
his office, the President has to make and subscribe to an oath or
affirmation .
The oath of office to the President is administered by the Chief
Justice of India and in his absence, the senior most judge of the
Supreme Court available.

Article 61. Procedure of impeachment:

 The President can be removed from office by a process of
impeachment for violation of the Constiution.
 The impeachment charges can be initiated by either House of
Parliament.
 These charges should be signed by one-fourth members of the
House and a 14 days notice should be given to the President.
 After the impeachment resolution is passed by a majority of two-
thirds of the total membership of that House, it is sent to the
other house, which should investigate the charges.
 The President has the right to appear and to be represented at
such investigation.
 If the other House also sustains the charges and passes the
impeachment resolution by a majority of two-thirds of the total
membership, then the President stands removed from his office
from the date on which the resolution is so passed.

[Impeachment is a quasi-judicial procedure in the Parliament.

Nominated members of either House of Parliament can participate
in the impeachment process though they do not participate in the
election .
Art. 62. (1) An election to fill a vacancy caused by the expiration of
the term of office of President shall be completed before the
expiration of the term.
(2) An election to fill a vacancy in the office of President occurring by
reason of his death, resignation or removal, or otherwise shall be
held as soon as possible after, and in no case later than six
months from, the date of occurrence of the vacancy; and the
person elected to fill the vacancy shall, subject to the provisions
of article 56, Procedure for impeachment of the President.
Time of holding election to fill vacancy in the office of President and
the term of office of person elected to fill casual vacancy be
entitled to hold office for the full term of five years from the date
on which he enters upon his office.
Powers and functions of the President:

Executive power
Legislative power
Financial power
Judicial Power
Emergency powers
Pardoning power.
Executive power:
All executive actions of the Government of India are formally taken
in the name of the President. [Art.77(1)]
He appoints the Prime-Minister and the other ministers. They hold
office during his pleasure.
The President appoints the attorney general of India and determine
his remuneration. The attorney general is also hold office during
the pleasure of the President.
He appoints the comptroller and auditor general of India, the chief
election commissioner, the chairman and members of the Union
Public Service Commission.
He can seek any information relating to the administration of affairs
of the Union, and proposals for legislation from the Prime
Minister.
He can require the Prime Minister to submit , for consideration fo
the council of ministers, any matter on which a decision has been
taken by a minister but which has not been considered by the
Council.
Legislative Power: The President is an integral part of the Parliament
of India.
He can summon and prorogue the Parliament and dissolve the Lok
Sabha. [Art. 85]
He can summon a joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament
which is presided over by the Speaker .
President’s prior recommendation or permission is needed to
introduce certain types of bills in the Parliament.
When a bill is sent to the President after it has been passed by the
parliament, he can give his assent to the bill or he can withhold
his assent or return the bill for reconsideration.
When a bill is passed by a state legislature is reserved by the
governor for consideration of the President.
The President can promulgate ordinance when the Parliament is not
in session. [Art.123]
Financial Power:
Money bills can be introduced in the Parliament only with the prior
recommendation of the President.
He can make advances out of the contingency fund of India to meet
any unforeseen expenditure.
He constitute a finance commission after every five years to
recommend the distribution or revenue between the Centre and
the state.
No demand for a grant can be made except on his recommendation.
Judicial Powers:
The President appoints the Chief Justice and the judges of the
Supreme Court and high courts.
He can seek advice from the Supreme Court on any question of law
or fact. But the advice tendered by the Supreme Court is not
binding on the President.
• The President has the power to pardon, reprieve, respite, remit,
suspend or commute the sentence of a person who has been
convicted.
• Apart from the pardoning power, every other power cannot be
exercised by him solely. He has always to be in consultation with
the Chief Justice.
Emergency Powers:
In addition to the normal powers mentioned above, the Constitution
confer extraordinary powers on the President to deal with the
following three powers-
National emergency
President’s rule
Financial emergency.
Article 72 of Indian Constitution deals with the pardoning powers of
the President of India.
• Article 72 of the Constitution empowers the President to grant
pardon to persons who have been tried and convicted to any
offence in all cases where the:
• Punishment or sentence is for an offence against a Union Law.
• Punishment or sentence is by a court martial; and
• Sentence is a sentence of death.
• The pardoning power of the President is independent of the
Judiciary. It is an executive power.
• But the President while exercising this power does not sit as a
court of appeal.
• The object of conferring this power on the President is two-fold-
• To keep the door open for correcting any judicial errors in the
operation of law
• To afford relief from a sentence, which the President regards as
unduly harsh.
• The pardoning power of the President includes the following-
• Pardon: It removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely
absolves the convict from all sentences.
• Commutation: It denotes the substitution of one form of punishment for a
lighter form. For example, a death sentence may be commuted to rigorous
imprisonment, which in turn may be commuted to a simple imprisonment.
• Remission: It implies reducing the period of sentence without changing its
character. For example, a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for two years
may be remitted to rigorous imprisonment for one year.
• Respite: It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally
awarded due to some special fact, such as the physical disability of a convict
or the pregnancy of a woman offender.
• Reprieves: It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence (especially that of
death0 for a temporary period. Its purpose is to enable the convict to have
time to seek pardon or commutation from the President.
• In India, the power to pardon is a part of the Constitutional scheme. The
power of pardon exists to prevent injustice, whether from harsh, unjust laws
and judgments which result in injustice; hence the necessity of vesting that
power in an authority other than the judiciary has always been recognised.
Veto Power of the President:
The veto power can be classified into four types-
Absolute veto, Qualified veto, Suspensive veto and Pocket veto.

The President of India is vested with three veto powers- absolute veto,
suspensive veto and pocket veto.
Absolute veto- it refers to the power of the President to withhold his
assent to a bill passed by the Parliament. The bill then ends and does
not become an act. This veto power is exercised in the following two
cases-
 With respect to private member’s bills
 With respect to the government bills when the cabinet resigns.

Suspensive veto: The President exercises this veto when he returns a bill
for recommendation of the Parliament. However, if the bill is passed
again by the Parliament with or without amendments and again
presented to the President, it is obligatory for the President to give his
assent to the bill.
Pocket veto:
In case of pocket veto, the President neither ratifies nor rejects nor
returns the bill, but simple keeps the bill pending for an indefinite
period. The President can exercise his veto power as the
Constitution does not prescribe any time-limit within which the
has to take the decision with respect to a bill presented to him for
his assent.

The President has veto power with respect to state legislation also.
Vice- President:
The Vice- President occupies the second highest office in the
Country.
The office of the Vice- President is modelled on the lines of the
American Vice-President.

Article 63 to 70 deals with the Vice-President.

The Vice-President shall be ex officio Chairman of the Council of
States and shall not hold any other office of profit.[Art. 64]

Election: Article 66
The Vice-President is elected not directly by the people but by the
method of indirect election.
He is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of
the members of both Houses of Parliament.
Electoral college consists of-
 Both elected and nominated members of the Parliament.
 It does not include the members of the state legislative
assemblies .
The Vice- President’s election, like that of the President’s election, is
held in accordance with the system of proportional
representation by means of the single transferable vote and the
voting is by secret ballot.
He should not be a member of either House of Parliament or a
House of the state legislature. If any such person is elected Vice-
President, he is deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on
the date on which he enters upon his office as Vice-President.
He should not hold any other office of profit.
Article 66(3) talks about the eligibility of the Vice-President.
To be eligible for election as Vice-President, a person should fulfill
the following qualification:
 He should be a citizen of India
 He should have completed 35 years of age.
 He should be qualified for election as a member of the Rajya
Sabha.
 He should not any office of profit under the Union government or
any state government or any local authority or any other public
authority.

Article 67. Term of office of Vice-President:

The Vice-President holds office for a term of five years from the date
on which he enters upon his office.
He can resign from his office at any time by addressing the
resignation letter to the President.
Removal :
 The Vice-President can be removed by a resolution of the Rajya
Sabha passed by a special majority and agreed to by the Lok
Sabha.
 No such resolution can be moved unless at least 14 days advance
notice has been given.
 No ground has been mentioned in the Constitution for his
removal.
 The Vice-President can hold office beyond his term of five years
until his successor assumes charge.
 He is also eligible for re-election to that office. He may be elected
for any number of terms.
Article 68. A vacancy in the Vice-President’s office can occur in any
of the following ways:
On the expiry of his tenure of five years
By his resignation
On his removal
By his death

Powers and functions of the Vice-President:

The functions of Vice-President are two-fold:
a) He acts as the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
His powers and functions are similar to those of the Speaker of Lok
Sabha.
b) He acts as President when a vacancy occurs in the office of the
President due to his resignation, removal, death or otherwise.
He can act as President only for a maximum period of six months
within which a new President has to be elected.
When the sitting President is unable to discharge his functions due
to the absence, illness or any other cause, the Vice-President
discharges his functions until the President resumes his office.

While acting as President or discharging the functions of President,

the Vice-President does not perform duties to the office of the
chairman of Rajya Sabha. During this period, those duties are
performed by the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

Article 71. All doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection

with the election of a President or Vice-President shall be
inquired into and decided by the Supreme Court whose decision
shall be final.
 If the election of a person as President or VicePresident is
declared void by the Supreme Court, acts done by him in the
exercise and performance of the powers and duties of the office
of President or VicePresident, as the case may be, on or before
the date of the decision of the Supreme Court shall not be
invalidated by reason of that declaration.

 Parliament may by law regulate any matter relating to or

connected with the election of a President or VicePresiden

 The election of a person as President or VicePresident shall not

be called in question on the ground of the existence of any
vacancy for whatever reason among the members of the electoral
college electing him
 Council of Ministers
Article 74. Council of Ministers to aid and advise President:
 There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the
head to aid and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his
functions, act in accordance with such advice
 President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such
advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in
accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.
 The advice tendered by the Council of Ministers to the President shall
not be inquired into in any Court.
 The total number of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the
Council of Ministers shall not exceed fifteen per cent. of the total
number of members of the House of the People. [Art. 75(1-A)]
 The Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. [
Art.75(2)]
 The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House
of the People. [Art.75(3)]
Article 75.
The Constitution does not contain any specific procedure for the
selection and appointment of the Prime Minister.

Article 75 says only that the Prime Minister shall be appointed by

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

Powers and function of the Prime Minister:

The Prime Minister enjoys the following powers as the head of the
Council of Ministers
a) He recommends person who can be appointed as ministers by
the President.
b) He allocates and reshuffles various portfolios among the
ministers.
c) He can ask a minister to resign or advise the President to dismiss
him in case of difference of opinion.
d) He presides over the meetings of council of ministers.

e) He can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by

resigning from office. Since the Prime Minister stands at the head
of the council of ministers, the other ministers cannot function
when the Prime Minister resigns or dies.
The Prime Minister enjoys the following powers in relation to the
President:
a) The Prime Minister is the principal channel of communication
between the President and the council of minister. So it is the
duty of the Prime Minister to communicate to the President all
decisions of the council of ministers.
b) To furnish such information relating to the administration of the
affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation as the President
may call for.
c) He advise the president with regard to the appointment of
important officials like attorney general of India, comptroller and
auditor general of India.
As a leader of the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister the following
powers:
a) He advises the President with regard to the summoning and
proroguing of the session of the Parliament.
b) He can recommend dissolution of the Lok Sabha to President at
any time
c) He announces government policies on the floor of the House.
There are some other powers and functions of the Prime Minister.
He is the chairman of the NITI Aayog.
The Prime Minister is the crisis manager-in-chief at the political level
during emergencies.
The Prime Minister plays a very significant and highly crucial role in
the polictico-administrative system of the country.