General

SAJMA ALI

NEW DELHI :-The President is the constitutional head of the country, he is also the head of state and the first citizen of India. According to Article 79 of the Indian Constitution, there will be a Parliament of India. The President is a part of the Parliament, with the executive power of the Union vested in the President. India is considered a democratic republic, along with it the parliamentary system has been adopted here, so the President is a nominal executive while the Prime Minister’s cabinet is the real executive.[79. Constitution of Parliament. – There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People.] 

The important facts related to the President are as follows

According to Article 52, Article 52 of the Indian Constitution provides that there will be one President of India. [52. The President of India. – There shall be a President of India]

According to Article 53, according to it, the executive power of the Union will be vested with the President, along with it will be the supreme commander of the three armies.[53. Executive power of the Union. – (1) The executive power of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the supreme command of the Defence Forces of the Union shall be vested in the President and the exercise thereof shall be regulated by law. (3) Nothing in this article shall- (a) be deemed to transfer to the President any functions conferred by any existing law on the Government of any State or other authority; or (b) prevent Parliament from conferring by law functions on authorities other than the President.] 

According to Articles 54 and 55, Article 54 provides that who will have the right to vote in the presidential election, while according to Article 55, it has been said that what will be the election process, on what basis the President will be elected. [ 54. Election of President. – The President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of- (a) the elected members of both Houses of Parliament; and (b) the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. [ Explanation .-In this article and in article 55, “State” includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Pondicherry.] 55. Manner of election of President. – (1) As far as practicable, there shall be uniformity in the scale of representation of the different States at the election of the President. (2) For the purpose of securing such uniformity among the States inter se as well as parity between the States as a whole and the Union, the number of votes which each elected member of Parliament and of the Legislative Assembly of each State is entitled to cast at such election shall be determined in the following manner:- (a) every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State shall have as many votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the State by the total number of the elected members of the Assembly; (b) if, after taking the said multiples of one thousand, the remainder is not less than five hundred, then the vote of each member referred to in sub-clause (a) shall be further increased by one; (c) each elected member of either House of Parliament shall have such number of votes as may be obtained by dividing the total number of votes assigned to the members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States under sub-clauses (a) and (b) by the total number of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament, fractions exceeding one-half being counted as one and other fractions being disregarded. (3) The election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot. [ Explanation .-In this article, the expression “population” means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published: Provided that the reference in this Explanation to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year [2026][have been published, be construed as a reference to the 1971 census.] 

Presidential qualification

According to article 58 provides for the President’s qualifications

• Be a citizen of India
• Has attained the age of 35 years
• Do not hold any benefits
• Have qualification of Lok Sabha member

[58. Qualifications for election as President. – (1) No person shall be eligible for election as President unless he- (a) is a citizen of India, (b) has completed the age of thirty-five years, and (c) is qualified for election as a member of the House of the People. (2) 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. Explanation .-For the purposes of this article, a person shall not be deemed to hold any office of profit by reason only that he is the President or Vice-President of the Union or the Governor [* * *] of any State or is a Minister either for the Union or for any State.]  

Election and term

Elected members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state legislative assemblies participate in the election of the President. It is noteworthy that the elected members of the legislative assemblies of Delhi and Pondicherry are also included in the election of the President.

According to article 56

The President’s term is 5 years from the date of his swearing in, but before that he can submit his resignation to the Vice President, in addition, if it is found to be in violation of the Constitution, then it can be removed before its term by imposing impeachment.[56. Term of office of President. – (1) The President shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office: Provided that- (a) the President may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Vice-President, resign his office; (b) the President may, for violation of the Constitution, be removed from office by impeachment in the manner provided in article 61; (c) the President shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his term, continue to hold office until his successor enters upon his office. (2) Any resignation addressed to the Vice-President under clause (a) of the proviso to clause (1) shall forthwith be communicated by him to the Speaker of the House of the People.] 

Impeachment Article 61
Any House of Parliament can impeach it, but it is necessary to give written information to the President 14 days before the impeachment, which is signed by the permanent members of that House, the House of Parliament in which the motion for impeachment is proposed 2 /3 If the resolution is passed members, then it is sent to the other house, if it is also passed by a 2/3 majority then the process of impeachment on the President will be deemed complete.[61. Procedure for impeachment of the President. – (1) When a President is to be impeached for violation of the Constitution, the charge shall be preferred by either House of Parliament. (2) No such charge shall be preferred unless- (a) the proposal to prefer such charge is contained in a resolution which has been moved after at least fourteen days’ notice in writing signed by not less than one-fourth of the total number of members of the House has been given of their intention to move the resolution, and (b) such resolution has been passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House. (3) When a charge has been so preferred by either House of Parliament, the other House shall investigate the charge or cause the charge to be investigated and the President shall have the right to appear and to be represented at such investigation. (4) If as a result of the investigation a resolution is passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House by which the charge was investigated or caused to be investigated, declaring that the charge preferred against the President has been sustained, such resolution shall have the effect of removing the President from his office as from the date on which the resolution is so passed.] 

According to article 57

According to this, if the President resigns before the time or he dies due to any reason, then the post of President should be filled within 6 months by re-election.[57. Eligibility for re-election. – A person who holds, or who has held, office as President shall, subject to the other provisions of this Constitution, be eligible for re-election to that office

Salary and allowances
The salary of the President is ₹ 500000 per month for residency and other types of allowances.

Rights and powers
The President is the first citizen of the country, with this, the President gets various powers, the chief of which is as follows

Legislative power
No bill can become law without the signature of the President, that is, the signature of the President is necessary to make a bill a law. The President has the right to abolish each session of Parliament.

Advisory power Article 143, according to this, the President and the Supreme Court can consult each other about any fact without any hindrance. [143. Power of President to consult Supreme Court. – (1) If at any time it appears to the President that a question of law or fact has arisen, or is likely to arise, which is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court upon it, he may refer the question to that Court for consideration and the Court may, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report to the President its opinion thereon.(2) The President may, notwithstanding anything in [* * *] the proviso to article 131, refer a dispute of the kind mentioned in the [said proviso] to the Supreme Court for opinion and the Supreme Court shall, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report to the President its opinion thereon.]

Right to appoint The President has the right to appoint various posts, some of which are as follows:-
Appointment of prime minister
Appointment of other members of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council of Ministers
Appointment of state governors
UPSC President
Appointment of Chief Justice, CAG, Attorney General of Supreme and High Court

Issue of Ordinance

Article 123 When both Houses are not in session, in such a situation, if there is a need to implement any immediate law in the country, then something special as far as the Parliament is empowered to make laws. The President can do implements a law through an  rdinance.[ 123. Power of President to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Parliament. – (1) If at any time, except when both Houses of Parliament are in session, the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such Ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require. (2) An Ordinance promulgated under this article shall have the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament, but every such Ordinance- (a) shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament, or, if before the expiration of that period resolutions disapproving it are passed by both Houses, upon the passing of the second of those resolutions; and (b) may be withdrawn at any time by the President. Explanation.-Where the Houses of Parliament are summoned to reassemble on different dates, the period of six weeks shall be reckoned from the later of those dates for the purposes of this clause. (3) If and so far as an Ordinance under this article makes any provision which Parliament would not under this Constitution be competent to enact, it shall be void.]

Emergency powers The President can impose emergency in three ways with the advice of the Council of Ministers.

• Article 352, Emergency due to invasion armed rebellion.
• Article 356, Emergency due to constitutional mechanism arising in the state.
• Article 360, Financial emergency.

Judicial work Article 72 Power to pardon the punishment of a convict and abolish it.[ 72. Power of President to grant pardons, etc., and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases. – (1) The President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence- (a) in all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial; (b) in all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends; (c) in all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death. (2) Nothing in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall affect the power conferred by law on any officer of the Armed Forces of the Union to suspend, remit or commute a sentence passed by a Court Martial. (3) Nothing in sub-clause (c) of clause (1) shall affect the power to suspend, remit or commute a sentence of death exercisable by the Governor [* * *] of a State under any law for the time being in force.]

Power to nominate members
The President nominates two persons in the Lok Sabha and 12 in the Rajya Sabha nominates persons from the Indian community. Experiences are gained in science social work but they cannot participate in the election of the President.

Apart from this, the President also gets privileges. There are three types.

Absolute prohibition
Suspending injunction
Right of jb

Thus, the President of India is the President of the Republic. All executive functions are done in the name of the President. The President is the first citizen of the country. The Indian President is required to be an Indian citizen.