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POLITICAL SCIENCE
The President of India
India has adopted a federal system of
government. At the head of the Union executive stands
the President of India. The Constitution of India provides
for a President of India and the executive power of the
Union Government including the supreme command of
the defence forces, is vested in him. Infact Article 52
states that there shall be a President of India. Article 53
declares that the executive power of the Union shall be
vested in the President. The executive power of the Union
is vested in the President expressly, but there is no
corresponding provision in the Constitution vesting the
legislative and the judicial power in a particular organ of
the State. While the legislative power is primarily vested
in the legislature that is in the Union Parliament and the
State Legislatures, the judicial power is not vested in one
organ. The State may confer judicial power on the courts
and the tribunals. The division of the power of the State
into three organs called executive, legislature and
Judiciary are characteristics of all modern Constitutions.
This vertical division of powers is called the theory of
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separation of powers. In some of the Constitutions the
separation is more pronounced, as in the U.S.A. and in
some less. Our Constitutions does not contain rigid
separation of powers. In the Delhi laws Act Case the
Supreme Court clearly stated that none of the organs of
the state can divest itself of the essential functions which
belong to it under the Constitution. This is based on the
Doctrine of Constitutional Trust. The legislative and
judicial functions are not vested in particular bodies, but
powers and functions of each Constitutional entity are to
be found within the Constitution. Thus, the law making
function is generally vested in the legislature, but Article
123 and 213 confer the power to issue Ordinances on the
President and the Governor respectively. The power is to
be exercised in conformity with relevant conditions. In
fact our Constitution creates an office of the President but
the form of the Government is not Presidential.
It must be noted that India has adopted for a
Parliamentary form of government in which the President
happens to be the Constitutional head and the real
executive powers vested in the Council of Ministers. The
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Prime Minister being head of the Council of Ministers is
the real head of the executive. Article74 mandates that
there shall be a Council of Ministers to aid and advice the
President in the exercise of his functions. It is further
prescribed that the President shall act in accordance with
such advice. Article 75(3) lays down that the Council of
Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok
Sabha. The Constitution has no article stating that the
President is answerable or responsible to the Lok Sabha.
The provision contained in Article 75(3) is the foundation
of the Parliamentary form of government. The Council of
Ministers is the final authority to take decisions in regard
to the affairs of the Union, since they have been vested
with the authority and have been made answerable to the
Lok Sabha. The President being the titular or formal head
exercises all powers and functions conferred on him on
the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
Qualifications
Article 58 of the Constitution requires that a candidate for
the office of the President should possess the following
qualifications:
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1. She/he must be a citizen of India.
2. She/he must have completed 35 years of age.
3. She/he must possess all qualifications prescribed for
election as a member of the Lok Sabha.
4. Besides she/he must hold any office of profit under
the government of India or any State Government or
any local authority subject to the control of central or
State Government.
5. Article 59 says that she/he mustnot be a member of
either House of Parliament or of any State
Legislature. It means that in case the member of the
Union or the State Legislature is elected for this
office, his seat in the Legislature shall be deemed to
have been vacated from the date on which he
assumes his office as the President of India.
Election of the President
The procedure of Presidential election is contained in
Article 54 and 55 of our Constitution. The President of
India is elected by indirect election, that is, by an
electoral college, in accordance with the system of
proportional representation by means of a single
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transferable vote. According to Article 54 the Electoral
College shall consist of –
(a) The elected members of both Houses of Parliament
and
(b) The elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of
the States.
Article 55 provides for the formula of uniformity in the
scale of representation of different states, as far as
practicable, by incorporating the method of proportional
representation with single transferable vote system. This
condition seeks to ensure that the votes of the States, in
the aggregate, in the Electoral College for the election of
the President, shall be equal to that of the people of the
country as a whole. In this way the President shall be a
representative of the nation as well as a representative of
the people in the different States. It also gives
recognition to the status of the States in the federal
system.
