INDIAN CONSTITUTION: PRESIDENT OF INDIA
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:
THE TENURE AND EMOLUMENTS
THE DUTIES
THE EMERGENCY POWERS.
- President of India is the Head of the Union Executive and the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces.
- A Council of Ministers Headed by Prime Minister Aids and Advises the President in the exercise of his function. Article 53 of the Constitution of India states that the President can exercise his powers directly or by Subordinate Authority
- The 13th and Current President is Pranab Mukherjee, who was elected on 22 July 2012, and sworn in on 25 July 2012.
- A Citizen of India
- Completed 35 years of Age
- Eligible to be a Member of Lok Sabha
- A person shall not be eligible for election as President if he 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.
Exceptions are:
- President and Vice-President
- Governor of any state
- Minister of Union State
- Indirectly Elected through Electoral College consisting of the Elected Members of both Houses of Parliament (M.P.s), the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies of all States and the Elected Members of the Legislative Assemblies (M.L.A.s) 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 in the Reserve Bank of India.
- The election is held in accordance to the system of Proportional Representation by means of the 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.
- Supreme court inquires all disputes regarding Presidents Election.
- The President is required to make and subscribe in the presence of the Chief Justice of India (or in his absence, the Senior-Most Judge of the Supreme Court)
- 5 years Term
- Article 57 says that there is No Upper Limit on the number of times a person can become President.
- On 11 September 2008 the Government of India increased the salary of the President to ₹1.5 lakh.
- Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President's Official Residence, is the Largest Presidential Palace in the world. The Rashtrapati Nilayam at Bolarum, Hyderabad and Retreat Building at Chharabra, Shimla are the official Retreat Residences of the President of India.
- Quasi-Judicial Procedure
- Can be impeached only on the ground of Violation of Constitution
- The Impeachment Procedure can be initiated in either House of the Parliament
- In case of office falls vacant due to death, resignation or removal, the Vice-President act as President.
- It he is not available then Chief Justice, it not then Senior-Most Judge of the Supreme court shall act as the President of India
- The Election is to be held within 6 months of the Vacancy
THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF PRESIDENT
THE 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).
- The President is the common head of all independent Constitutional Entities. All his actions, recommendations (Article 3, Article 111, etc.) and supervisory powers (Article 78 c, Article 108, Article 111, etc.) over the executive and legislative entities of India shall be used in accordance to uphold the constitution.
- There is no bar on the actions of the President to contest in the Court of Law.
THE LEGISLATIVE POWERS
- Legislative Power is constitutionally vested by the Parliament of India of which the president is the head, to facilitate the law making process as per the 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.
- Article 143 gave power to the president to consult the Supreme Court about the Constitutional Validity of any issue.
- The President inaugurates Parliament by Addressing it after the General Elections and also at the beginning of the First Session each year; this is mentioned in Article 87(1).
- As per Article 53, the Executive Power of the Country is vested in the President and is exercised by President either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution.
- Union Cabinet with Prime Minister as its Head, should aid and advice the President in Performing his Functions.
- As per Article 74 (2), the council of Ministers or Prime Minister are not accountable legally to the advise tendered to the President but it is the sole responsibility of the President to ensure compliance with the constitution in performing his duties.
THE APPOINT POWERS
The President appoints, as Prime Minister, 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.
The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:
- Governors of States
- The Chief Justice, other Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India
- The Chief Minister of the 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 (UPSC)
- Vice Chancellor of the Central University and Academic Staff of the Central University through his Nominee
- Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries (only through the list of names given by the Prime Minister)
THE FINANCIAL POWERS
- A Money Bill can be introduced in the Parliament only with the President’s Recommendation.
- The President lays the Annual Financial Statement, i.e. the Union budget, before the Parliament.
- The President can take advances out of the Contingency Fund of India to meet unforeseen expenses.
- The President Constitutes a Finance Commission after Every Five years to recommend the distribution of the taxes between the centre and the States. Now it is NITI AYOG.
- The President appoints the Chief Justice of the Union Judiciary and other Judges on the advice of the Chief Justice.
- He dismisses the Judges if and only if the Two Houses of the Parliament pass resolutions to that effect by a Two-Thirds Majority of the Members Present.
- According to Article 143 of Indian Constitution, if the President considers a question of law or a matter of public importance has arisen, he can ask for the advisory opinion of the Supreme Court.
THE DIPLOMATIC POWERS
- All International Treaties and Agreements are negotiated and concluded on behalf of the President.
THE MILITARY POWERS
- The President is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. He also appoints the chiefs of the service branches of the armed forces.
- The President can declare war or conclude peace, on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.
THE PARDONING POWERS
Article 72 of the Indian Constitution, the President is empowered with the powers to Grant Pardons in the following situations:
- Punishment is for an offence against Union Law
- Punishment is by a Military Court
- Sentence is that of Death
THE EMERGENCY POWERS.
The President can declare Three Types of Emergencies:
- National, State and Financial, under Articles 352, 356 & 360 in addition to promulgating ordinances under Article 123
THE FINANCIAL EMERGENCY
- Article 282 accords Financial Autonomy in spending the Financial Resources available with the states for public purpose.