All disputes arising in connection with the election of the vice president are
petitioned to the Supreme Court of India, which inquires into the matter. The
petition is heard by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court, which decides on the
matter. The decision of the Supreme Court is final.[7]
The Supreme Court inquires into and decides upon all doubts and disputes arising
out of or in connection with the election of the vice president per Article 71(1)
of the constitution. The Supreme Court can remove the vice president for committing
electoral malpractices or upon being ineligible to be a Rajya Sabha member under
the Representation of the People Act, 1951.[8] Subject to Article 71 (3),
Parliament has made applicable rules or procedure to petition the Supreme Court for
resolving the disputes that arise only during the election process of the vice
president but not the doubts that arise from his unconstitutional actions or deeds
or changing citizenship during his tenure which may violate the requisite election
qualifications.[9] The Supreme Court shall also expeditiously decide any doubt
raised by which the elected vice president could be ineligible to be a Rajya Sabha
member for the unconstitutional acts committed before becoming vice president.
Under Article 71(1), it is the responsibility of the Supreme Court to inquire and
decide about the so-called unconstitutional acts committed by the vice president
such as turning down the notice of the Rajya Sabha members to impeach the chief
justice of India and other judges of Supreme Court and High Courts per Article
124(4) and Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 or allowing a bill passed under simple
majority instead of procedure applicable to constitutional amendment or falsely
declaring a bill passed.[10][11]
The vice president is elected indirectly, by an electoral college consisting of
members (elected as well as nominated) of both Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha &
Rajya Sabha), by the system of proportional representation using single
transferable votes and the voting is by secret ballot. The election of the vice
president is slightly different from the election of the president as the members
of state legislatures are not part of the electoral college but the nominated
members of Rajya Sabha are part of it.
The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the vice president must
be subscribed by at least 20 electors as proposers and 20 electors as seconders.
Every candidate has to make a security deposit of ₹15,000 (US$180) in the Reserve
Bank of India.
The Election Commission of India, which is a constitutional autonomous body,
conducts the election. The election is to be held no later than 60 days of the
expiry of the term of office of the outgoing vice president. A returning officer is
appointed for the election, usually the secretary-general of either House of
Parliament, by rotation. The returning officer issues a public notice of the
intended election, inviting nomination of candidates. Any person qualified to be
elected and intending to stand for election is required to be nominated by at least
twenty members of Parliament as proposers, and at least twenty other members of
Parliament as seconders. The nomination papers are scrutinized by the returning
officer, and the names of all eligible candidates are added to the ballot.
The election is held via proportional representation using single transferable
votes by secret ballot. Voters stack-rank the candidates, assigning 1 to their
first preference, 2 to their second preference, and so on. The number of votes
required by a candidate to secure the election is calculated by dividing the total
number of valid cast votes by two and adding one to the quotient by disregarding
any remainder. If no candidate obtains the required number of first-preference
votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated and his
or her second-preference votes are transferred. The process is repeated until a
candidate obtains the requisite number of votes. Nominated members can also
participate in the election.[7]
Legislative power is constitutionally vested in the Parliament of India of which
the president is the head, to facilitate the lawmaking process per the constitution
(Article 78, Article 86, etc.). The president summons both the houses (Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha) of the parliament and prorogues them. They can dissolve the Lok
Sabha.[5]: 147
The president inaugurates parliament by addressing it after the general elections
and also at the beginning of the first session every year per Article 87(1). The
presidential address on these occasions is generally meant to outline the new
policies of the government.[13]: 145
All bills passed by the parliament can become laws only after receiving the assent
of the president per Article 111. After a bill is presented to them, the president
shall declare either that they assent to the Bill, or that they withhold assent
from it. As a third option, they can return a bill to parliament, if it is not a
money bill, for reconsideration. President may be of the view that a particular
bill passed under the legislative powers of parliament is violating the
constitution, they can send back the bill with their recommendation to pass the
bill under the constituent powers of parliament following the Article 368
procedure. When, after reconsideration, the bill is passed accordingly and
presented to the president, with or without amendments, the president cannot
withhold their assent from it. The president can also withhold their assent to a
bill when it is initially presented to them (rather than return it to parliament)
thereby exercising a pocket veto on the advice of the prime minister or council of
ministers per Article 74 if it is inconsistent with the constitution.[12] Article
143 gives the president the power to consult the supreme court about the
constitutional validity of an issue. The president shall assent to constitutional
amendment bills without power to withhold the bills per Article 368 (2).
India achieved independence from the British on 15 August 1947, initially as a
dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations with George VI as king, represented in
the country by a governor-general.[4] Following independence, the Constituent
Assembly of India, under the leadership of B. R. Ambedkar, undertook the process of
drafting a completely new constitution for the country. The Constitution of India
was eventually enacted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950,
[5]: 26 making India a republic.[6]: 9 The offices of monarch and governor-general
were replaced by the new office of President of India, with Rajendra Prasad as its
first incumbent.[6]: 1 India retained its Commonwealth membership per the London
Declaration, recognising The King as "the symbol of the free association of its
independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth."[7]
The Indian constitution accords to the president the responsibility and authority
to defend and protect the Constitution of India and its rule of law.[8] Invariably,
any action taken by the executive or legislature entities of the constitution shall
become law only after the president's assent. The president shall not accept any
actions of the executive or legislature which are unconstitutional. The president
is the foremost, most empowered and prompt defender of the constitution (Article
60), who has pre-emptive power for ensuring constitutionality in the actions of the
executive or legislature. The role of the judiciary in upholding the Constitution
of India is the second line of defence in nullifying any unconstitutional actions
of the executive and legislative entities of the Indian Union.
