The President of India

The President is the head of State and the formal head of the Union executive (Arts 52 to 62). India follows the British model: the President is a constitutional head who acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.

Election (Arts 54 and 55)

• Chosen by an Electoral College made up of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of States, including Delhi and Puducherry (70th Amendment, 1992). Nominated members and members of Legislative Councils do not vote.
• System: proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, with a secret ballot.
• Value of votes is fixed so that States and the Union have equal weight. Value of an MLA's vote = population of the State (1971 Census) divided by (number of elected MLAs x 1000). Value of an MP's vote = total value of all MLAs' votes divided by the number of elected MPs.
• A candidate needs 50 proposers and 50 seconders and a security deposit of ₹15,000.
• Disputes about the election are decided only by the Supreme Court (Art 71).

Qualifications and term

• Citizen of India, at least 35 years old, qualified to be a Lok Sabha member, and must not hold an office of profit.
• Term: 5 years (Art 56). Can be re-elected any number of times. Continues in office until the successor takes charge.
• Oath is administered by the Chief Justice of India.
• Salary: ₹5 lakh per month (since 2018).

Removal: impeachment (Art 61)

• Only on the ground of "violation of the Constitution".
• Charge can start in either House with a notice signed by at least one-fourth of its members, given 14 days earlier.
• The House must pass it by two-thirds of its total membership. Then the other House investigates, and if it also passes it by a two-thirds majority of its total membership, the President stands removed.
• Elected and nominated members of Parliament both take part. State legislatures do not.
• No President has ever been impeached.

Vacancy

A new election must be held within 6 months (Art 62). Meanwhile the Vice-President acts as President (Art 65). If he is unavailable, the Chief Justice of India (or the senior-most Supreme Court judge) acts, as happened in 1969 with Justice M. Hidayatullah.

Powers

Veto power

• Absolute veto: withholds assent (the Bill dies).
• Suspensive veto: returns a Bill (except a Money Bill) for reconsideration. If Parliament passes it again, he must give assent.
• Pocket veto: takes no action at all. The Constitution gives no time limit. (Example: the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill, 1986, by President Zail Singh.)

Constitutional limits

• Art 74: He must act on the advice of the Council of Ministers (42nd Amendment). He may ask it to reconsider the advice once (44th Amendment), but must then act on the new advice.
• Courts cannot inquire into the advice given to the President.

Presidents of India