President of India (Article 52-62) – Power Function [Notes]

The President of India

The president of India is the executive head of our country. He/She is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. He is also known as the first citizen of the country.

This article talks about The President of India – an ultimate general knowledge note for aspirants who are dreaming of being an IAS officer of India. This note is also helpful for any kind of govt job examination such as UPSC, SSC, CGL, WBCS, Banking SBI PO, Defence, Railway, etc.

Eligibility and Conditions for a Presidential Candidate:

The Presidential candidate has to have the following qualifications to become the president of India:

1. The Candidate must be an Indian citizen.
2. The age should be a minimum of 35 years.
3. Must be eligible to be a member of Lok Sabha.
4. He should not be a member of parliament or State Legislature.
5. The office of profit should not be held in the country.
   (A) The candidate has to deposit Rs. 50,000 as security fees.
   (B) The nomination papers of the candidates are proposed by fifty electors and
   must be supported by another fifty electors.

Here is an article of Age Limit for Various Constitutional Posts In India.

Election Procedure for the President of India:

The President and Vice President of India are indirectly elected through the Electoral College. This selection is performed through a single transferable vote system.

The Electoral College is formed by

• Elected members of the two houses of Parliament i.e. Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.
• Elected members of state legislatures.
• If there are any problems in the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections, then this could be resolved by the Supreme Court through Article 71.

Presidential election system.

The matter related to the Presidential Election is discussed in articles 54 and 55. According to Article 54 of the Indian Constitution, the President is elected by the Electoral College.

The president can be elected –

1. By all elected members of both houses of the Parliament of India.
2. By all members of the State Legislature.
3. By all elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Pondicherry.

The presidential election is held in five steps. The main subject is ‘Proportional Representation by means of a single transferable vote‘.

(1) First step: Calculation of the value of the vote of an MLA of a state using the following formula.

(2) Second step: Calculation of the vote of an MP using the following formula.

(3) Third Step: Secret ballot voting system.

The voting system is according to preference. First preference voting must be given otherwise the ballot paper will be canceled.

(4) Fourth Step: Quota process. The winning quota, which determines the winning candidate, is calculated using the formula given below.

If a candidate wants to be elected as the President, he/she has to get the number of winning quota (votes).

(5) Fifth Step: Transfer of vote.

If the candidate in the first count does not get the winning quota of the first-choice, then the candidate who gets less number of first-choice votes is excluded from the election. In this manner, the cancellation of a candidate and transfer of vote continue till one is elected. If two or more candidates receive the same number of votes, the elected President is determined by lottery.

Oath: The President of India needs to take an oath of office in front of the Chief Justice.

Salary: The salary of the President of India is Rs. 500,000. The allowance is also applicable.

Term of the President:

• The general term of the president of India is five years.
• The President will submit his resignation letter to the Vice President.

Impeachment of the president

• Article 61: The President may be removed by process of impeachment for violating the Constitution through Article 61 of the Indian Constitution.
• In order to bring an impeachment proposal to Parliament, the proposal is filed in any house of Parliament with the support of 1/4 of the members of that house on 14 days’ notice.
• Proposals should be passed in support of more than 1/2 of the total members and more than 2/3 of the present and voting members, separately from both houses.

Power and Function of President

[1] Executive Power

[A] Administrative Power:

• Pursuant to Article 53 (1) of the Constitution, all administrative powers have been vested to the President.
• The administrative functions of the Central Government are conducted by the President.
• He is the administrative head of the government. The decisions of the Government of India are theoretically considered as decisions of the President.
• The Prime Minister apprised the decisions of the Cabinet regarding the conduct of governance to the President.

[B] Appointment Power:

• Since the President is the administrative head, he has special appointment powers.
• He has the right to appoint all the members of the Union Cabinet, including the Prime Minister.
• He also may distribute the office among them. Moreover, high-ranking government officials in India are appointed by the President.
• He has the power to appoint the Attorney General, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), members of the Union Public Service Commission, Governors, Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and the Head of the Election Commission.
• Moreover, the President can form important commissions like the Finance Commission, Election Commission, Inter-State Council/Commission, Language Commission, etc.

[C] Military Power:

• The president has important military powers. The President is the head of the entire National Army.
• He can appoint chiefs of the Air Force, Navy, and Army.
• He can declare war or establish peace.
• But all these decisions are not effective without the approval of Parliament. That is, the military power of the President is regulated by the laws of Parliament [Article 53(2)]

[D] Diplomatic Power:

• The president has some powers regarding foreign affairs. In foreign affairs, all activities are performed in the name of the President.
• As head of state, he could send Indian diplomatic representatives abroad. He also could receive diplomatic representatives from other countries.
• International treaties and agreements are executed in the name of the President. But those are not effective without the approval of Parliament.

[E] Supervisory Power:

• The Union Territories of India are governed by the President. He has the power to rule all these territories directly or through a designated officer.
• He may delegate some responsibilities of the Central Government to the employees of the State Government. However, in this case, the consent of the state government has to be taken.
• The President may form an Inter-State Council to coordinate and cooperate in matters relating to the governance of different States.
• The President has been given special powers to administrate the tribal areas. The President may appoint a special staff for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

[2] Legislative Power

• The President of India has extensive legislative powers.
• As the King or Queen of England, the President and the Legislature of India are an integral part of Parliament.
• The Parliament of India consists of the President, the Legislative Assembly, and the Rajya Sabha (Article 79).

The President has various legal powers, which are discussed below:

(a) The President may convene a session of both Houses of Parliament or adjourn the session at any time and, if necessary, dissolve the Loke Sabha. According to Article 85 (1) of the Constitution, the President may, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, dissolve the Legislature before the end of his term.

(b) According to Article 86 (1) of the Constitution of India, the President may address any house or joint session of Parliament. The President delivered the inaugural address in the first session after each election of Loke Sabha. In this speech, he describes the important policies of the government (Article 87).

(c) The President appoints 2 members to the lower house of Parliament. These two members are from the Anglo-Indian community. The president can also appoint 12 members in the upper house of parliament. He can nominate all these among the eminent persons in the fields of literature, science, art, sociology, sports, etc.

(d) There are a number of bills that cannot be introduced in Parliament without the prior approval of the President. These bills are –

• Bills relating to the formation of new states and changes in the names and boundaries of the States (Article 3). Parliament can form a new state or change the name of the state.
• Finance Bill (Article 110) and Constitution Amendment Bill (Article 368).
• Bills relating to proposals for expenditure from the Reserve Fund of India.

(f) Any bill does not become law or act without the prior signature of the President. Each bill has to be sent to the President for signature after it is passed in both Houses of Parliament. The President may or may not agree to it. Again, if there is a bill other than the Finance and Amendment Bill, the President can send it back to Parliament for reconsideration. If it is the second time the bill has been passed by Parliament, the president is bound to sign it (Article 111).

(g) The President may exercise emergency powers in accordance with the Constitution of India. During the adjournment of the session of Parliament, the President may, for special purposes, enact emergency laws in any matter under the jurisdiction of Parliament (Article 123).

President’s veto power:

[A] Absolute Veto:

The veto power that the President of India can use to overturn a bill, or he can sign the bill and keep it to himself – is called an absolute veto.

[B] Qualified Veto:

If there is a majority of members of the legislature, they can deny the veto of the President of India. This veto is currently revoked.

[C] Suspended Veto:

If the bill is sent to the President for his consent, the President may return the bill for reconsideration. If the bill is sent back to the President, the President is bound to sign it.

[D] Pocket Veto:

The President may leave the bill forever without agreeing or disagreeing with it. This is called – pocket veto.

[3] Financial Power

• According to the constitution, the president has many important financial powers in his hands. For each financial year, a statement of estimated income and expenditure has to be submitted to the President in Parliament,
• Usually, the Union Finance Minister presents the budget of the Central Government to the Parliament on behalf of the President.
• According to Article 112 of the Constitution, the budget for the next financial year has to be presented by March every year.
• There is a special fund in India for contingency expenditure. This fund is vested in the hands of the President. He may grant advance funds from this to cover contingencies, subject to Parliament’s approval.
• The President could set up a Finance Commission, usually every five years, to distribute the revenue collected between the Center and the States.
• He may present the recommendations of the commission to Parliament. The recommendations of the Finance Commission regarding the distribution of revenue are effective if they are approved in Parliament. The President distributes the distributive funds between the Central and State Governments as decided.
• Demand for sanction of expenditure or money bill could not be published in Parliament without the recommendation of the President. It takes the consent of the President. The President presents the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to Parliament.

[4] Judicial Power:

• The Constitution of India confers some judicial powers to the President. President can appoint judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court. He can also remove them on the recommendation of Parliament.
• The President may suspend, reduce, and pardon a convicted person in a criminal case (under Article 72).
• The President may seek advice from the judge of the Supreme Court on any matter (Article 143).

[5] Miscellaneous Power:

• To be the head of the state of India, he has certain powers in his hands, viz
• It is the responsibility of the President to determine the number of members of the Union Public Service Commission and to formulate rules relating to their tenure and conditions of service.
• Pursuant to Article 213 (1) of the Constitution, the President has the power to direct the Governor to enact emergency laws in all the State’s Bills. This requires the prior approval of the President.
• If a governor is appointed for more than one state, the president decides which state (& what fraction) will bear the salary of the governor concerned.
• According to the fifth schedule, the President has special powers and responsibilities in governing the Scheduled and Tribes Areas included in the Scheduled Areas of the State of Assam.

[6] Emergency Power:

In a situation of emergency, the President may exercise certain powers, even if he is exercising his general powers. Chapter 18 (Part-XVIII) of the Constitution of India mentions the power of the President regarding the emergency period. According to this chapter, the president can declare three types of emergency, which are: –

1. Declaration of Emergency in the Country (Section 352).
2. Declaration of constitutional stalemate in the State (Section 356).
3. Declaration of Financial Emergency (Section 360).

# List of President of India:

Few MCQs of the Indian President

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