Laxmikanth Ch 16: President and the Union Executive (CAPF Digest)

The idea in one line

The Union executive (Articles 52 to 78) comprises the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers and the Attorney General; the President is the constitutional head who acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

The President (Articles 52 to 62)

• Election: indirectly elected by an electoral college of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the State and Union Territory (Delhi and Puducherry) legislative assemblies, by the system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote and secret ballot.
• Qualifications: citizen of India, at least 35 years old, qualified for election to the Lok Sabha, not holding an office of profit.
• Term: five years; eligible for re-election any number of times. Removable by impeachment for "violation of the Constitution" (Article 61), the only ground.
• Powers: executive (appointments of the Prime Minister, judges, Governors, the CAG, the Attorney General), legislative (summoning and proroguing Parliament, addressing it, assent to Bills, ordinances under Article 123), financial (the Money Bill needs the President's recommendation), judicial (pardoning power under Article 72: pardon, reprieve, respite, remission, commutation), diplomatic, and military (supreme commander of the defence forces). Emergency powers under Articles 352, 356 and 360.
• Constitutional position: a nominal executive; Article 74 makes the Council of Ministers' advice binding (42nd Amendment), with one reconsideration allowed (44th Amendment).

The Vice-President (Articles 63 to 71)

• Election: by an electoral college of the members of both Houses of Parliament (elected and nominated) by proportional representation with a single transferable vote.
• Function: ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha; acts as President when the office falls vacant, for a maximum of six months until a new President is elected.
• Term: five years.

The Prime Minister (Article 75)

• Appointed by the President; conventionally the leader of the majority party in the Lok Sabha.
• Heads the Council of Ministers, allocates portfolios, and is the principal channel of communication between the President and the Council.
• The real head of the government and the leader of the nation.

The Council of Ministers (Articles 74 and 75)

• Aids and advises the President; collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
• Three categories: Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, and Deputy Ministers.
• The 91st Amendment 2003 capped the size of the Council of Ministers at 15 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha (and the State Assembly for States).

The Attorney General of India (Article 76)

• The highest law officer of the country, appointed by the President, holds office during the pleasure of the President.
• Advises the Government on legal matters and has the right to audience in all courts and to speak in (but not vote in) Parliament.

CAPF angle: examiners ask the President's election method (electoral college, proportional representation, single transferable vote), the sole ground for impeachment (violation of the Constitution), the pardoning power (Article 72), the binding nature of ministerial advice (Article 74), and the 91st Amendment cap (15 per cent). The security overlay: the President is supreme commander of the defence forces (a titular role), and the pardoning power under Article 72 extends to court-martial sentences and to death sentences, a point with a human-rights dimension (mercy and the death penalty).