The Indian President is the head of the state and he is also called the first citizen of India.

He
is a part of Union Executive, provisions of which are dealt with Article 52-78 including
articles related to President (Article 52-62). Under these articles, information on how a
President is elected, his powers and functions, and also his impeachment process is given.

 Article 54: Election of President

 Article 55: Manner of election of President.
 Article 56 :Term of office of President
 Article 57: Eligibility for re-election.
 Article 58: Qualifications for election as President

Who is President of India?

The President of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The President is the

formal head of the executive, legislature, and judiciary of India and is also the commander-in-

chief of the Indian Armed Forces.

How is President elected?

There is no direct election for the Indian President. An electoral college elects him. The
electoral college responsible for President’s elections comprises elected members of:

1. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

2. Legislative Assemblies of the states (Legislative Councils have no role)
3. Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry

The Indian President is elected through an electoral college system, wherein the votes are
cast by national and State-level lawmakers.
The elections are conducted and overseen by the Election Commission of India
What is the value of each vote and how is it calculated?

 A vote cast by each MP or MLA is not calculated as one vote.

 Meanwhile, the vote value of each MLA differs from State to State based on
a calculation that factors in its population vis-a-vis the number of
members in its legislative Assembly.
o As per the Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act 2001,
currently, the population of States is taken from the figures of the
1971 Census. This will change when the figures of the Census
taken after the year 2026 are published.
  The value of each MLA’s vote is determined by dividing the population of
the State by the number of MLAs in its legislative Assembly, and the quotient
achieved is further divided by 1000.
o Uttar Pradesh for instance, has the highest vote value for each of
its MLAs, at 208. The value of one MLA’s vote in Maharashtra
is 175, while that in Arunachal Pradesh is just 8.
What is required to secure a victory?

 A nominated candidate does not secure victory based on a simple

majority but through a system of bagging a specific quota of votes. While
counting, the EC totals up all the valid votes cast by the electoral college
through paper ballots and to win, the candidate must secure 50% of the total
votes cast + 1.
 Unlike general elections, where electors vote for a single party’s candidate, the
voters of the electoral college write the names of candidates on the ballot
paper in the order of preference.
 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.

Who does not take part in the President’s elections?

The following group of people is not involved in electing the President of India:

1. Nominated Members of Rajya Sabha (12)

2. Nominated Members of State Legislative Assemblies
3. Members of Legislative Councils (Both elected and nominated) in bicameral
legislatures
4. Nominated Members of union territories of Delhi and Puducherry

What are the conditions of the President’s office?

There are a few conditions for the candidate running for the President’s elections:

1. He cannot be a member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. If he has been a member of
either of the house, he should vacate the seat on his first day as President in the office
2. He should not hold any office of profit
3. For his residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan is provided to him without the payment of rent
4. Parliament decides his emoluments, allowances and privileges
5. Parliament cannot diminish his emoluments and allowances during his term of office
6. He is given immunity from any criminal proceedings, even in respect of his personal
acts
 7. Arrest or imprisonment of the President cannot take place. Only civil proceedings can
be initiated for his personal acts that too after giving two months’ of prior notice.

What is the term of the President’s office?

Once President is elected, he holds office for five years. He sits in the office even after the
completion of five years given no new election has taken place or no new President has been
elected till then. He can also be re-elected and there is no cap on his re-election.

What is the procedure for impeachment of a President?

The only condition for the initiation of impeachment of the Indian president is the ‘violation
of the constitution.’

Note: Indian Constitution contains no definition of ‘violation of the constitution.’

The impeachment process of President is given below.

 The impeachment process can be started from any house of the parliament
by levelling charges against him.
 The notice bearing the charges against the president must be signed by at least a
quarter of the members of the house.
 The resolution to impeach the president must be passed by a special majority
(two-thirds) in the originating house.
 Next, it is sent to the other house for consideration. The other house acts as the
investigating horse. A select committee is formed to investigate the charges
labelled against the president.
 During the process, the President of India has the right to defend himself
through authorised counsel. He can choose to defend himself or appoint any
person/lawyer or attorney general of India to do so.

Can the President’s office be vacant?

Yes, his office can be vacant in the following ways:

1. When the President of India completes his term of five years in the office
2. If the President resigns by putting forward his resignation to the Vice President of
India
3. If Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha initiates an impeachment charge and they stand valid, he is
removed
4. If he dies in the office
5. If the Supreme Court declares his election invalid
Note: Vice-President discharges the duties as President; if the latter’s office falls vacant in
the circumstances mentioned above, except by the expiry of the term. As per the President’s
Act 1969; if the Vice-President office is vacant too, Chief Justice of India (CJI) (or in his
absence); Supreme Court’s senior-most judge, discharge the functions of the President (till
new President is elected.)

What are the powers and functions of the President of India?

Executive Powers of President

1. For every executive action that the Indian government takes, is to be taken in his
name
2. He may/may not make rules to simplify the transaction of business of the central
government
3. He appoints the Attorney General of India and determines his remuneration
4. He appoints the following people:
1. (CAG) Comptroller and Auditor General if India.
2. Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners
3. Chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission
4. State Governors
5. Finance Commission of India chairman and members
5. He seeks administrative information from the Union government
6. He requires PM to submit, for consideration of 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
7. He appoints National Commissions of:
1. Scheduled Castes
2. Scheduled Tribes
3. Other Backward Classes
8. He appoints inter-state council
9. He appoints administrators of union territories
10. He can declare any area as a scheduled area and has powers with respect to the
administration of scheduled areas and tribal areas

Legislative Powers of President

1. He summons or prorogues ( means terminating the session without dissolving it)

Parliament and dissolve the Lok Sabha
2. He summons ( process of calling all members of the parliament to meet) a joint sitting
of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in case of deadlock
 3. He addresses the Indian Parliament at the commencement of the first session after
every general election
4. He appoints speaker, deputy speaker of Lok Sabha, and chairman/deputy chairman of
Rajya Sabha when the seats fall vacant.
5. He nominates 12 members of the Rajya Sabha
6. He can nominate two members to the Lok Sabha from the Anglo-Indian Community
7. He consults the Election Commission of India on questions of disqualifications of
MPs.
8. He recommends/ permits the introduction of certain types of bills.
9. He promulgates ordinances
10. He lays the following reports before the Parliament:
1. Comptroller and Auditor General
2. Union Public Service Commission
3. Finance Commission, etc.

What is the Ordinance Making Power of the President?

Article 123 deals with the ordinance making power of the President. The President has
many legislative powers and this power is one of them. He promulgates an ordinance on
the recommendation of the union cabinet. (An ordinance is a law that is promulgated by
the President of India only when the Indian parliament is not in session. President
promulgates an ordinance on the recommendation of the union cabinet. Similarly, the
Governor of Indian states can also initiate ordinances only when a legislative assembly is
not in session when it is a unicameral legislature and when legislative assembly along
with legislative council both are not in session when it is the bicameral legislature)

Financial Powers of President

1. To introduce the money bill his prior recommendation is a must

2. He causes Union Budget to be laid before the Parliament
3. To make a demand for grants, his recommendation is a pre-requisite
4. Contingency Fund of India is under his control (unexpected expenditures)
5. He constitutes the Finance Commission every five years

Judicial Powers of President

1. Appointment of Chief Justice and Supreme Court/High Court Judges are on him
2. He has pardoning power: Under article 72, he has been conferred with power to
grant pardon against punishment for an offence against union law, punishment by a
martial court, or death sentence.
Note: Pardoning powers of the president includes the following types:
  Pardon with the grant of pardon convicts both conviction and sentence completely
absolved
 Commutation with this nature of the punishment of the convict can be changed
 Remission reduces the term of the imprisonment
 Respite awards lesser punishment than original punishment by looking at the special
condition of a convict
 Reprieve stays the execution of the awarded sentence for a temporary period

Diplomatic Powers of President

1. International Treaties and agreements that are approved by the Parliament are
negotiated and concluded in his name
2. He is the representative of India in international forums and affairs

Military Powers of President

He is the commander of the defence forces of India. He appoints:

1. Chief of the Army

2. Chief of the Navy
3. Chief of the Air Force

Emergency Powers of President

He deals with three types of emergencies given in the Indian Constitution:

1. National Emergency (Article 352)

2. President’s Rule (Article 356 & 365)
3. Financial Emergency (Article 360)

What is the Veto Power of the President?

When a bill is introduced in the Parliament, Parliament can pass the bill and before the bill
becomes an act, it has to be presented to the Indian President for his approval. It is on the
President of India to either reject the bill, return the bill or withhold his assent to the bill. The
choice of the President over the bill is called his veto power. The Veto Power of the President
of India is guided by Article 111 of the Indian Constitution.

What are the three types of Veto?

The three types of Vetoes are:

1. Absolute Veto
 2. Suspensive Veto
3. Pocket Veto
Types of Veto

Absolute Veto Suspensive Veto Pocket Veto

The power of the The power of the President to The power of the
President to withhold return the bill to the Parliament President to not act
the assent to the bill is with or without consideration is upon the bill is
termed as his absolute called suspensive veto termed as a pocket
veto veto

Absolute Veto of the President

The facts about the absolute veto power of the Indian President are given below:

 When the President exercises his absolute veto, a bill never sees the day of the light.
The bill ends even after passed by the Indian Parliament and does not become an act.
 President uses his absolute veto in the following two cases:

o When the bill passed by the Parliament is a Private member bill . (A bill
introduced by the Member of Parliament (MP) who is not a Minister, i.e., a
non-government member is known as the Private Members’ bill. Private
Members can also move legislative proposal or bill which he/she thinks is
appropriate to be present in the Statute Book)
o When the cabinet resigns before President could give his assent to the bill. The
new cabinet may advise the President to not give his assent to the bill passed
by the old cabinet.
Note: In India, the President has exercised his absolute veto before. In 1954, it was exercised
by Dr. Rajendra Prasad as a President and later in 1991, it was used by the then President R
Venkataraman.

Suspensive Veto of the President

The facts about the suspensive veto power of the Indian President are given below:

 The President uses his suspensive veto when he returns the bill to the Indian
Parliament for its reconsideration.
 o Note: If the Parliament resends the bill with or without amendment to the
Indian President, he has to approve the bill without using any of his veto
powers.

 His suspensive veto can be over-ridden by the repassage of the bill by the Indian
Parliament

o Note: With respect to state bills, state legislature has no power to override the
suspensive veto of President. The Governor can withhold the bill for the
President’s consideration and even if state legislature resends the bill to
governor and governor to President, he still can withhold his assent.

 When the Parliament resends the bill to the President, it has to follow only the
ordinary majority in the houses and not the higher majority.)

 The President cannot exercise his suspensive veto in relation to money

 Pocket Veto of the President

The facts about the Pocket veto power of the Indian President are given below:

 The bill is kept pending by the President for an indefinite period when he exercises
his pocket veto.
 He neither rejects the bill nor returns the bill for reconsideration.
 Constitution does not give any time-limit to President within which he has to act upon
the bill. Therefore, the President uses his pocket veto where he doesn’t have to act
upon the bill.
 Unlike the American President who has to resend the bill within 10 days, the Indian
President has no such time-rule.
Note:

 The Indian President has exercised this veto power before. In 1986, President Zail
Singh exercised this pocket veto.
 The President has no veto power when it comes to the constitutional amendment bills.