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 the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
Qualifications:
Article 58 of
the Constitution sets the principle
qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of the President. A
President must be:
·
A citizen
of India
·
Of 35 years of age or above
·
Qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha
·
Must not holds any office of profit under the
Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other
authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments. Exception:
1.
The current Vice President.
2.
The Governor of any
State.
3.
A Minister of the
Union or of any State (Including Prime Minister and Chief Ministers)
Election
Process:
·
Whenever
the office becomes vacant, the new President is chosen by an electoral college consisting of the
elected members of both houses of Parliament(M.P.), the elected members of the
State Legislative Assemblies (Vidhan
Sabha) of all States and the elected members of the legislative assemblies
(M.L.A.) of two Union Territories i.e., National Capital Territory(NCT)
of Delhi and
Union Territory of Puducherry.
·
The
nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the President must be
subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders.
Each candidate has to make a security deposit of
15,000 (US$240)
in the Reserve Bank of India. The security
deposit is liable to be forfeited in case the candidate fails to secure
one-sixth of the votes polled.
·
The
election is held in accordance to the system of Proportional representation by
means of Single transferable vote method. The
Voting takes place by secret ballot system. The manner of election of
President is provided by Article 55 of
the Constitution.
F
Term length Five years (renewable)
F
First President Rajendra Prasad
F
Salary 150000 (US$2,400) (Per
Month)
F
Oath by Chief Justice of India
Removal/Impeachment
(Article-61):
·
The
President may be removed before the expiry of the term through impeachment.
A President can be removed for violation of the Constitution of India.
·
The
process may start in either of the two houses of the Parliament. The house initiates the process by
levelling the charges against the President. The charges are contained in a
notice that has to be signed by at least one quarter of the total members of
that house. The notice is sent up to the President and 14 days later, it is taken
up for consideration.
·
A
resolution to impeach the President has to be passed by a special majority
(two-third majority of the total number of members of the originating house).
It is then 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. Other than impeachment, no other
penalty can be given to the President for the violation of the Constitution.
·
No
president has faced impeachment proceedings so the above provisions have never
been used
Powers and Duties
Duties:
The primary duty of the President is to preserve, protect
and defend the constitution and the law of India as made part of his oath
(Article 60 of Indian constitution).[10] He
is liable for impeachment for violation of the constitution (Article 61).
President is the common head of all independent constitutional entities.
Legislative Powers:
·
Legislative
power is constitutionally vested in the Parliament of India of which the president
is the head to facilitate law making process as per constitution (Article 78,
Article 86, etc.).
·
The
President summons both the Houses (the Lok Sabha and
the Rajya
Sabha) of the Parliament and prorogues them. He
can dissolve the Lok Sabha.
·
As
per Article 74, President shall abide by the aid and advice of the Council of
Ministers headed by the Prime Minister provided the given
advice is in accordance with the constitution.
·
Article
143 gave power to the president to consult supreme court for constitutional
validity of any issue.
·
The
President inaugurates the Parliament by addressing it after the general
elections and also at the beginning of the first session each year.
Presidential address on these occasions is generally meant to outline the new
policies of the government.
·
All bills passed by the Parliament can become
laws only after receiving the assent of the President.
·
After
a bill is presented to him, the President shall declare either that he assents
to the Bill, or that he withholds his assent from it. As a third option, he can
return a bill to the Parliament, if it is not a money bill or
a constitutional amendment bill,
for reconsideration. When, after reconsideration, the bill is passed and
presented to the President, with or without amendments, the President cannot
withhold his assent from it.
·
The
President can also withhold his assent to a bill when it is initially presented
to him (rather than return it to the Parliament) thereby exercising a pocket veto.
·
When
either of the two Houses of the Parliament of India is not in session, and
if government feels the need for immediate procedure, the President can
promulgate ordinances which have the same force and effect as laws passed by
Parliament. These are in the nature of interim or temporary legislation and
their continuance is subject to parliamentary approval. Ordinances remain valid
for no more than six weeks from the date the Parliament is convened unless
approved by it earlier.
Appointment Powers:
The President is responsible for making a wide variety of
appointments. These include-
·
The
President appoints, as Prime Minister, the person most likely to
command the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha (usually
the leader of the majority party or coalition). The President then appoints the
other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on
the advice of the Prime Minister.
·
The
President appoints 12 members of the Rajya Sabha from
amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in respect
of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.
·
Governors of States
·
The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India
·
The Chief Minister of National capital
territory of Delhi (Article 239 AA 5 of the constitution)
·
The Attorney General
·
The Comptroller and Auditor
General
·
The Chief Election Commissioner and
other Election Commissioners
·
The
Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission
·
Vice
Chancellor of central university and academic staff of central university through
his nominee
·
Ambassadors and High
Commissioners to other countries
Financial Powers
·
All money bills originate
in Lok Sabha / House of the people (Article 109).
·
The
president shall cause to be laid before Parliament (Article 112), the Annual Budget and supplementary Budget
for its approval.
·
No
money bill can be introduced in Parliament without his or her assent.
·
The
President appoints a finance commission every five years.
·
Withdrawal
from the contingency fund of India is done after the permission of the
President.
·
The
Contingency Fund of India is at the disposal of the President.
Diplomatic Powers
All international treaties and
agreements are negotiated and concluded on behalf of the President. However,
in practice, such negotiations are usually carried out by the Prime Minister
along with his Cabinet (especially the Foreign
Minister). Also, such treaties are subject to the approval of the
Parliament. The President represents India in international forums and affairs
where such a function is chiefly ceremonial. The President may also send and
receive diplomats, i.e. the officers from the Indian Foreign Service. The President
is the first citizen of the country.
Military Powers
The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence forces of India. The President can
declare war or conclude peace, subject to the approval of parliament only
under the decision of the Council of the Chiefs of Staffs of the Armed Forces, Military Secretary and President's
Officer (Deputy Military Secretary). All important treaties and contracts are
made in the President's name.He also appoints the chiefs of the service
branches of the armed forces.
Pardoning Powers
As mentioned in Article 72 of Indian Constitution, the President is empowered
with the powers to grant pardons in the following situations:
·
Punishment
is for offence against Union Law
·
Punishment
is by a Military Court
·
Sentence
is that of death
·
The
decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the President are independent
of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In most cases,
however, the President exercises his executive powers on the advice of the
Prime Minister and the cabinet.
Emergency powers
|
The President can declare
three types of emergencies :- National,
State, Financial under articles 352, 356 & 360 in addition to
promulgating ordinances under article 123.
National emergency (Article-352)
·
National
emergency can be declared in the whole of India or a part of its territory on
causes of war or armed rebellion or an external aggression. Such an emergency
was declared in India in 1962 (Indo-China
war), 1971 (Indo-Pakistan war), 1975 to 1977
(declared by Indira Gandhi on account of "internal
disturbance").
·
Under Article 352 of the
India Constitution, the President can declare such an emergency only on the
basis of a written request by the Cabinet Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Such a proclamation must be
approved by the Parliament within one month. Such an emergency can be imposed
for six months. It can be extended by six months by repeated parliamentary
approval, there's no maximum duration.
·
In
such an emergency, Fundamental Rights of Indian citizens can
be suspended. The six freedoms under Right
to Freedom are automatically suspended. However, the Right to Life and
Personal Liberty cannot be suspended (Article 21).
·
The
President can make laws on the 66 subjects of the State List (which contains
subjects on which the state governments can make laws).Also, all money bills
are referred to the President for its approval.
·
The
term of the Lok Sabha can be extended by a period of up to one
year, but not so as to extend the term of Parliament beyond six months after
the end of the declared emergency.
State Emergency (Article-356)
If the President is satisfied,
on the basis of the report of the Governor of the concerned state or from other
sources that the governance in a state cannot be carried out according to the
provisions in the Constitution, he can declare a state of emergency in the
state. Such an emergency must be approved by the Parliament within a period of 2 months.
Financial emergency (Article- 360)
·
Under
article 360 of the constitution, President can proclaim financial emergency
when the financial stability or credit of the nation or of any part of its
territory is threatened. However till now, no guide lines defining the
situation of financial emergency in the entire country or a state or a union
territory or a panchayat or a municipality or a corporation, are framed either
by finance commission or by central
government. Such an emergency must be approved by the Parliament within two
months by simple majority. It has never been declared.
·
A
state of financial emergency remains in force indefinitely until revoked by the
President.
The President can
reduce the salaries of all government officials, including judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, in case of a financial
emergency
Interesting Facts about Presidents of
India
» Rashtrapati
Bhavan which is the Official Residence of President of India was earlier called
Viceroy’s House.
» Rashtrapati
Bhavan was built under Charles Hardinge who was the then Viceroy of India. This
Viceroy’s House was renamed as Rashtrapati Bhavan when Rajendra Prasad became
the first President and occupied this building.
» V V
Giri became first Acting President of India in 1969 after the death of Zakir
Hussain in office.
» V V
Giri was elected full feldged President just after few months. He was the only
person who worked as Acting President and President.
» There
were 2 Presidents who died during their incumbency period i.e. on Chair. They
were – Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad.
» Rajendra
Prasad was the first President of Republic India. He was the only person who
held the chair twice.
» 4
Presidents have received Bharat Ratna
· S
Radhakrishnan in 1954
· Rajendra
Prasad in 1962
· Zakir
Hussain in 1963
· APJ
Abdul Kalam in 1997
» The
only woman to serve the post of President was Pratibha Patil who was the 12th
President.
» The
only President (Acting) who worked earlier as Chief Justice of India is Justice
Hidayatullah.
» The
only President from Janta Party was Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.
» The
only President who earlier worked as Speaker of Lok Sabha – Neelam Sanjiva
Reddy.
» The
only President who earlier worked as 1 st Chief Minister of a State was Neelam
Sanjiva Reddy. He was the first Chief Minister of Andhra
Pradesh.