KNC501/KNC601 Constitution of India, Law and Engineering
Chapter 4: President of India
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Appendix
President of India
The President of India is the executive head of India. He is the supreme command of the defence forces of India and the ceremonial head of the country and also called the first citizen of India.
The President is elected indirectly by the Electoral College in both houses of Parliament and the legislative assembly of each State and territory of India, who themselves are directly chosen by the people of India. It means we choose the President indirectly.
In article 53 of the constitution of India, it is provided that all the executed powers of the Unions are vested to the President. He can use these powers directly and indirectly. Here, indirectly means that he can use these powers through the officers subordinate to him.
According to Article 53 of the Constitution of India, the President of India can exercise his powers directly or by his subordinate authority. But in practice, all the powers are exercised by the PM of India, the subordinate authority, with the help of the Council of Ministers.
This article will give information about the procedure to elect the President, his qualifications, term of office, impeachment process, and various power of the President of India.
Currently, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind is the President of India or “भारत के राष्ट्रपति”, (25 July 2017).
A president is the head of the country. He is known as the first citizen of India. After taking the oath, he becomes the union executive along with the vice-president of India, attorney general, and PM of India. He is the supreme command of India.
The process to elects the President
The President of India is not elected directly as other ministers are elected. There is an electoral college that elects him. This college is responsible for the election of the president with consisting of the members (who are already elected) of parliament and legislative assembly of all states and UT of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir. The values of the votes are based on the population in 1971 rather than the current population of each state and UTs. It is a secret ballot system of voting.
Composition of Electoral College
The composition is made up of the elected members of
- The upper house (Rajya Sabha) of the parliament of India.
- Lower of House (Lok Sabha) of Parliament of India.
- Each states legislative assembly (the lower house of the state assembly of each state)
- Union territory possessing its legislative assembly.
Now there are two types of voters for the voting of Electoral College which are MP and MLA.
As mentioned above the vote value is counted on the basis of the population in 1971. So we have given 2 formulas to calculate the value of votes:
These are the formulas used in the Electoral College to count the votes –
There are also the following persons in the assemblies and state councils who cannot take part in the president elects, such as:
- The nominates members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
- Nominated members of the legislative assembly of each state
- Member of legislative councils in bicameral legislatures
- Nominated members of UTs of Delhi and Puducherry
It should be noted that if there is any dispute arising related to the election of the president, the decision given by the Supreme Court of India will be the final.
Oath by the President of India
Article 60 of the constitution of India provides the oath to the President that “every person who is acting as President of India shall make an oath to his office. It includes the oath to preserve, defend, and protect the constitution of India”. It means, the president takes the oath as the guardian of the constitution.
The Chief Justice of India administers the oath to the President in Parliament’s Central Hall. And if the Chief Justice of India is not present at that time, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court administers the same.
Qualification of the President
Every person cannot become the President of India. There are some qualifications given under the constitution of India for the president:
- The person should be a citizen of India
- The minimum age required is 35 years.
- He should qualify all the conditions to be elected as a member of the lower house (Lok Sabha).
- He should not hold any office of profit under any Indian government of public authority.
