MODULE 3

UNION EXECUTIVE

The union executive consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the
Council of ministers and the Attorney general of India.

PRESIDENT

ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT

The president is elected not directly by the people but by members of electoral college. This
electoral college consisting of:

1. The elected members of both the houses of Parliament.

2. The elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states; and
3. The elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and
Puducherry.

The Presiden’s election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by
means of the single transferable vote and the voting is by secret ballot.

QUALIFICATION

1. He should be a citizen of India.

2. He should have completed 35 years of age.
3. He should be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha.
4. He should not hold any office of profit under the central government or any state
government.

OATH OF THE PRESIDENT

The oath of office to the president is administered by the chief justice of India, and in his
absence, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court available.

TERM OF PRESIDENT

The president holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his
office.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF PRESIDENT

A. EXECUTIVE POWERS –
1. All the executive actions of the government of India.
2. He appoints the prime minister and other ministers.
3. He appoints the attorney general of India and determines his remuneration.
4. He can declare area as scheduled area.

B. LEGISLATIVE POWERS –
1. He can summon or prorogue the Parliament and dissolve the Lok Sabha.
2. He can address the Parliament at the commencement of the first session after each
general election and the first session of each year.
3. He can nominate 12 members of the Rajya Sabha from amongst persons having special
knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service.
4. He can nominate two members to the Lok sabha from the Anglo-Indian Community.
5. He can promulgate ordinances when the Parliament is not in session.
6. A bill became law only when it is signed by president of India.

C.FINANCIAL POWERS.

1. Money bills can be introduced in the Parliament only with his prior recommendation.

2. He can make advances out of the contingency fund of India to meet any unforeseen
expenditure.

3. He constitutes a finance commission after every five years.

D. JUDICIAL POWERS

1. He appoints the chief justice and the judges of supreme court and high court.

2. He can grand pardon the sentence of any person convicted of any offence.

E. DIPLOMATIC POWERS

The international treaties and agreements are negotiated and concluded on behalf of the
president. He represents India in international forums and affairs and sends and receives
diplomats like ambassadors, high commissioners, and so on.
F. MILITARY POWERS.

1.He is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India.

2. In that capacity, he appoints the chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air force.

VICE PRESIDENT

The vice president occupies the second highest office in the country. The office is modeled on
the lines of the American Vice President.

ELECTION OF VICE PRESIDENT

The vice president like the president is elected not directly by the people but by the method of
indirect election. He is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the members
of both Houses of Parliament. The electoral college consists of:

It consists of both elected and nominated members of the parliament. ( in case of president only
elected members)

It does not include the members of the state legislative assemblies.

QUALIFICATION

1. He should be a citizen of India.

2. He should have completed 35 years of age.
3. He should be qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
4. He should not hold any office of profit under central government or state government.

OATH

Oath of vice president is administered by the President or some person appointed in that behalf
by him.

TERM OF OFFICE

The vice president holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his
office. However he can resign from office at any time by addressing the resignation letter to the
president.

A formal impeachment is not required for his removal. He can be removed by a resolution of the
Rajya Sabha passed by an absolute majority.( majority of the total members of the House) and
agreed to by the loksabha.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS

1. He acts as the ex-officio chairman of Rajya sabha. In this respect, he resembles the
American vice president who also acts as the chairman of the senate- the upper house of
the American legislature.
2. He act as president when a vacancy occurs in the office of the president due to his
resignation, removal, death or otherwise. He can act as president only for a maximum
period of six months with in which a new president has to be elected.

IMPEACHMENT

The president and vice-president can be removed from office before his completion of five year.
This process is called impeachment. The reason for impeachment is violation of the constitution.
However, the constitution does not define the meaning of the phrase violation of the constitution.

PROCESS OF IMPEACHMENT

Impeachment of president

The impeachment charges can be initiated by either house of Parliament. These charges should
be signed by one-fourth members of the House, and a 14 days’ notice should be given to the
President. After the impeachment resolution is passed by a majority of two-thirds of total
membership of that house, it is sent to the other house, which should investigate the charges. The
president has the right to appear and to be represented at such investigation. If the other House
also sustains the charges and passes the impeachment resolution by a majority of two-thirds of
the total membership, then the President stands removed from his office from the date on which
the bill is so passed.

Members participate in the impeachment process: the nominated and elected members of
parliament can participate in the impeachment process.

Impeachment of vice-president.

A formal impeachment is not required for his removal. He can be removed by a resolution of the
Rajya Sabha passed by an absolute majority.( majority of the total members of the House) and
agreed to by the loksabha
 PRIME MINISTER

Article 75 says only that the prime minister shall be appointed by the president. However, this
does not imply that the president is free to appoint any one as the Prime Minister.

 The president has to appoint the leader of the majority in the Lok Sabha election as the
prime minister.
 When no party has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, then the president usually appoints
the leader of the largest party or coalition in the Lok Sabha as the prime minister and ask
him to seek a vote of confidence in the House with in a month.
 If on the death of an incumbent prime minister, the ruling party elects a new leader, the
president has no choice but to appoint him as prime minister.

QUALIFICATION

1. He should be a citizen of India.

2. The prime minister should be a member of any of the two houses of Parliament.
3. He s register as an elector for a parliamentary constituency. It is not mandatory to elect
from the same constituency in which his or her name is registers. A person has free to
elect from any constituency around the country.

OATH

The oath of prime minister is administered by the president of india. He has to take two
oaths. 1. Oath of office – as a member of parliament. 2. Oath of secrecy – as prime minister.

TERM

The term of office of the prime minister is not fixed and he holds office during the pleasure
of the president.

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS

In relation to council of ministers.

1. He recommends the persons who can be appointed as ministers by the president.

2. He allocates and reshuffles various portfolios among the ministers.
3. He can ask a minister to resign or advise the president to dismiss him in case of
difference of opinion.
4. He presides over the meeting of council of ministers and influences its decisions.
5. He guides, direct, controls, and coordinated the activities of all the ministers.
6. He can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by resigning from office.
In relation to president of India.

1. He is the principal channel of communication between the President and the council of
ministers. It is the duty of the prime minister to communicate to the president all
decisions of the council of ministers.
2. He advises the president with regard to the appointment of important officials like
attorney general, comptroller and auditor general, chairman and members of UPSC etc.
3. He is the chief spokesman of the Union government.
4. He is the crisis manager in chief at the political level during emergencies.
5. He can recommend dissolution of the lok sabha to president at any time.
6. Advises the president with regard to summoning and proroguing of the sessions of the
parliament.
7. He announces government policies on the floor of the House.

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Article 74 deals with the status of the council of ministers. According to 91 st amendment
act 2003, strength of council of ministers notn exceed 15% of the total strength of the lok
sabha.
The council of ministers consists of three categories of ministers, namely, cabinet
ministers, ministers of state, and deputy ministers.
.
Cabinet ministers
They were experienced ministers who hold very important portfolios like home, finance,
defence, agriculture, foreign affairs etc. their number varies from time to time. But it is
generally in the range of 15 to 20.
Minister of state
A minister of the state usually given the charge of departments of the ministries headed
by7 cabinet ministers or allocated specific items of work. He cannot attend the meetings
of the cabinet on his own right but can attend if invited.
Deputy minister
He is a junior member of council of ministers and not given independent charge of any
department. He is put under the charge of either minister of the cabinet rank or that of the
minister of state that he gets proper training. he does not attend a cabinet meeting

RESPONSIBILITY OF COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Collective responsibility
Council of Ministers collectively responsible to the lok Sabha. A government can remain
in office for so long as it retains the confidence of the house of people, confidence which
can be proven by a confidence vote. So, if a decision of a particular ministry on a policy
matter is defeated in lok Sabha. It is not the minister who resigns, but the whole council
of ministers resigns.
Individual responsibility
Each minister is individually responsible to the president. Ministers shall
be liable to be removed by the president at any time on advise of the prime minister.
No legal responsibility
In India, it is not required that an order of the president for a public act should be
countersigned by a minister. In Britain, every order of the king for any public act is
countersigned by a minister. If the order is in violation of any law, the minister would be
held responsible and would be liable in the court.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Article 76 has provided for the office of Attorney General for India. He is the highest law
officer in India.
Attorney general is appointed by the president.

QUALIFICATION

He must be qualified to be appointed as a judge of supreme court.

1. He should be a citizen of India.
2. He should have been a judge of a High Court for five years.
3.He should have been an advocate of a High Court for 10 years.
4.He should be a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the president.

TENURE
The term of office of the AG is not fixed by the constitution. He holds office during the
pleasure of the president.

DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS

1. To give advice to the government of India upon legal matters.
2. To perform such other duties of a legal character that are assigned to her or him by
the president.
3. To appear on behalf of the government of India in all cases in the supreme court and
in any case in high court.

RIGHTS

1. AG has the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of both the Houses of
Parliament without a right to vote.
2. He can enjoy the privileges and immunities available to a member of parliament.
 3. He does not fall in the category of government servants, so he is not debarred from
private legal practice.

LIMITATION

 He or she should not advise/ or hold a brief against the government of India.

PARLIAMENT
Indian parliament is a bicameral legislature. It has two houses. One house is called Rajya
sabha and the other is called Lok sabha.

RAJYA SABHA
The Rajya Sabha, i.e., the Council of States, is the upper house of the Union parliament.
It gives representation to the states of the Indian Union. However, unlike the upper
houses of the USA and Switzerland, the Indian States have not been given equal
representation in the Rajya sabha. The have also been given representation on the basis of
the size of their population.
Strength of Rajya Sabha
The maximum strength of the Rajya sabha is fixed at 250, out of which,238 are to be the
representatives of the states and union territories(elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated
by the President.
QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS
 He must be a citizen of India.
 He should be a resident of the State for a minimum of six months from which he
is seeking election
 He must be above the age of 30 years.
 He must possess all other qualifications as may be laid down by the parliament.
 He must not hold any office of profit under the government of India or of the
state.
 He should not be insane or a bankrupt.
 He should not have been disqualified under any law of the parliament.

TENURE

The Rajya Sabha is a quasi permanent house. It is not subject to dissolution like Lok Sabha. One
third of its members retire after every second year and elections are held for the vacant seats.
QUORUM : the quorum for the meeting of Rajya Sabha is 1/10 of its members. Its means that at
least 1/10th of the members of the Rajya Sabha must be present for carrying out the proceedings
of the house.

Chairman : The vice-president is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

LOK SABHA

The Lok Sabha .i.e, the house .of the people is the lower house of the Union Parliament. It
represents the people of India. It is directly elected by the people. It is an powerful, democratic
and fully representative Houses of the Union Parliament.

Strength

The maximum strength of Lok Sabha is fixed at 552. Out of this, 530 members are to be the
representatives of the states, 20 members are to be the representatives of the union territories and
2 membetrs are to be nominated by the president from the Anglo Indian community.

QUALIFICATION

 He must be a citizen of India.

 He must not be less than 25 years of age.
 He must not hold any office of profit under the Union or state government.
 He should not have an unsound mind.
 He should not have been declared an offender of a grave crime by any court of law.
 He should not be a bankrupt.
 He should possess all such qualifications as may be prescribed by a law of the parliament.

TENURE

The normal term of the Lok Sabha is five years.

PRESIDING OFFICERS OF LOK SABHA : The speaker is the chairman and the presiding
officer of the Lok Sabha.

SPECIAL PRIVILEGES OF MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT.

1. The members of Parliament enjoys several privileges. They enjoy unrestricted freedom
to express their views in the House. No action can be taken against them for anything
said by them in the House.
 2. They cannot be detained for any civil offence during and 40 days before and after the
session. The criminal cases can be made only after the chairman of the concerned house
has been informed of it.

POWERS AND FUCTIONS OF PARLIAMENT.

1. LEGISLATIVE POWERS : In the sphere of ordinary law making both Rajya Sabha and
Lok Sabha enjoys equal powers. An ordinary bill can become a law only after it has been
passed by both the Houses of Parliament.
2. FINANCIAL POWERS : In financial power, Rajya sabha plays a minor role. A money
bill can be introduced only in the Lok sabha. After it passed by Lok sabha this bill goes to
the Rajya sabha, if within a period of 14 days, the rajya sabha fails to pass the bill, the bill
is taken to have been passed by the parliament irrescpective of the fact that Rajya sabha
has not passed it.
3. EXECUTIVE POWERS: Rajya sabha has limited role in the excersise of executive
powers. The council of ministers collectively responsible before the Loksabha. Only the
Loksabha can cause the exit of the council of ministers by passing a vote of no-
confidence. The members of Rajyasabha can only check the ministers by seeking
information regarding their work, criticizing the policies adopted by them, by asking
questions.
4. CONSTITUTION AMENDING POWER: any constitutional amendment bill can be
introduced in either house of the parliament. No constitutional amendment bill can be
considered to have been passes unless approved by both the Rajyasabha and the
Loksabha. Both the house enjoys equal powers in the sphere of amendment making.
5. ELECTORAL POWERS: elected members of parliament (rajya sabha and loksabha) take
part in the election of the president. Both elected and nominated members of parliament
take part in the election of vice president.
6. JUDICIAL POWERS: Rajya sabha along with loksabha can impeach the president by
passing a bill with special majority. But a charge against the vice-president can be leveled
in rajya sabha only. Because vice president is the exo-officio chairman of rajya sabha.

SPECIAL POWERS OF RAJYA SABHA

1. The power to declare a subject of state list as a subject of national importance. Rajya
sabha passb a resolution by 2/3rd majority of its members present and voting. Such a
resolution empowers the union parliament also to make laws on that subject for a period
of one year. Such a resolution can be repeatedly passed by rajyasabha year after year.
2. Rajya sabha has a power in respect of creation or abolishen of an All India sevices. Rajya
sabha can create one or more new all india services by adopting a resolution by 2/3 rd
majority. Rajya sabha can also disband of an existing all india services.

SPECIAL POWERS OF LOK SABHA

 1. Changing the boundaries of the states, creation of new states and change in the name of
states.
2. Approval of the ordinance issued by the president.
3. Changing jurisdiction of the supreme court and high court.
4. Changing qualification for the membership of parliament and state legislature.
5. Revising salary and allowances of MPs.
6. Setting up of joint PSC for two or more states.

DISQUALIFICATION OF MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

Under the constitution, a person shall be disqualified for being as a member of parliament:

1. If he holds any office of profit under the central government or state government.
2. If he is of unsound mind.
3. If he is an undischarged insolvent.
4. If he has voluntarily acquiring the citizenship of another country.
5. If he is so disqualified under any law made by parliament.

The parliament has laid down the following additional disqualifications in the Representation of
People Act(1951)

1. If he has been found guilty of certain election offences or corrupt practices.

2. If he convicted for any offence resulting two years of imprisonment.
3. If he failed to lodge an account of his election expenses.
4. If he convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for the offence of
bribery.
5. If he has been punished for preaching and practicing social crimes such as untouchability,
dowry and sati.
6. If he has been dismissed from government services for corruption or disloyalty to the
states.
 SUPREME COURT.

Article 124 to 147 in part 5 of the constitution deal with supreme court of India. At present, the
supreme court consists of 31 judges(including chief justice).

QUALIFICATION OF JUDGES:

1. He should be a citizen of India.

2. a) he should have been a judge of a High Court for five years.
b) he should have been an advocate of a high court for ten years.
c) he should be a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the president.

CHIEF JUSTICE OF SUPREME COURT: Senior most judge of the supreme court should be
appointed to the office of the chief justice of India.

POWERS AND JURISDICTION OF SUPREME COURT.

The constitution has conferred a very extensive jurisdiction and vast powers on the supreme
court.

1. Original jurisdiction
2. Writ jurisdiction
3. Appellate jurisdiction
4. Advisory jurisdiction
5. A court of record
6. Power of Judicial review

1.ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

The word original means, the power to hear such disputes in the first instance, not by way of
appeal.

The disputes are:

1. Dispute between the centre and one or more states;

2. Disputes between the centre and any state or states on one side and one or more states on
the other side;
 3. Dispute between two or more states.

In the above disputes, the supreme court has exclusive original jurisdiction. Exclusive means, no
other court can decide such disputes in the first instance, not by way of appeal.

2. WRIT JURISDICTION

The supreme court is empowered to issue writs. In this regard, the supreme court has original
jurisdiction in the sense that an aggrieved person can directly go to the supreme court, not
necessarily by way of appeal. However, the writ jurisdiction of supreme court is not exclusive.
The high court are also empowered to issue writs. The writ jurisdiction of supreme court is wider
than that od supreme court. The supreme court can issue writs only for the enforcement of the
fundamental rights and not for other purpose. The high court ,on the other hand, can issue writs
only for the enforcement of the fundamental rights but also for other purposes.

3.APPELLATE JURISDICTION

The supreme court is a court of appeal and hears appeals against the judgement of the lower
courts.

a) Constitutional cases
In the constitutional cases, an appeal can be made to the supreme court
against the judgement of a high court. If the high court cerifies that case
involves a substantial question of law that requires the interpretation of the
constitution. Based on the certificate, the party in the case can appeal to
the supreme court on the ground that the question has been wrongly
decided.
b) Civil matters:
If the high court certifies-
1. That the case involves a substantial question of law of general importance;
and
2. That the question needs to be decided by the supreme court.
c) Criminal matters:
1. Has on appeal reversed an order of acquittal of an accused person and
sentenced him to death or imprisonment for life or for 10 years.
2. Has taken before itself any case from any subordinate court and convicted
the accused person and sentenced him to death, imprisonment for life or for
10 years.
3. If high court certifies that the case is a fit one for appeal to the supreme
court.
 SPECIAL LEAVE APPEAL

Article 136 vests the supreme court of india with a special power to grant special leave to appeal
against any judgement or order or decree in any matter or case passed or made ny any caourt in
the country.

This is special power bestowed upon supreme court of india to grant leave to appeal against any
jusgement in case any substantial constitutional question of law is involved or gross injustice has
been done.

SLA provides the aggrieved party a special permission to be heard in Apex court in appeal
against any judgement or order of any court in the country.

Time frame with in which SLA can be filed:

 SLP (Special leave petition) can be filed against any judgement of high court with in 90
days from the date of judgement.
 SLP can be filed within 60 days against the order of the high court refucing to grant the
certificate the fitness for appeal to supreme court.

Who can file SLP?

 Any aggrieved party can file SLP against the judgement order of refusal of grant of
certificate.

4.ADVISORY JURISDICTION

The constitution article 143 authorises the president to seek the opinion of the supreme court in
the two categories.

a) on any question of law or fact of public importance.

b) on any dispute arising out of any pre-constitutional treaty or other similar instrument.

In the first case, the supreme court may tender or may refuce to tender its opinion to the
president. But in the second case, the supreme court must tender its opinion to the president. In
both the cases, the opinion expressed by the supreme court is only advisory and not a judicial
pronouncement. Hence it is not binding on the president.
5.COURT OF RECORD

As a court of record, the supreme court has two powers:

a) The judgements, proceedings and acts of the supreme court are recorded for perpetual
memory and testimony. They are recognized as legal precedents and legal references.
b) It has power to punish for contempt of court. Contempt of court may be civil or criminal.
Civil contempt means willful disobedience to any judgement, order, writ or other process
of a court or willful breach of an undertaking given to a court. Criminal contempt means
the publication of any matter or doing an act which – (i) scandalizes or lowers the
authority of a court (ii) prejudices or interferes with the due course of a judicial
proceeding; or (iii) interferes or obstructs the administration of justice in any other
manner
Punishment for contempt of court is either simple imprisonment for a term up to 6
months or with fine up to 2000/- or with both.

6.POWER OF JUDICIAL REVIEW

Judicial review is the power of the supreme court to examine the constitutionality of legislative
enactments and executive orders of both the central and state government. On examination, if
they are found to be violative of the constitution, they can be declared illegal, unconstitutional
and invalid by the supreme court. Consequently, they cannot be enforced by the government.

Supreme court can use power of judicial review on the following three grounds:

a) It infringes the fundamental rights.

b) It is outside the competence of the authority which has framed it, and
c) It is repugnant to the constitutional provisions.

Judicial review is needed for the following reasons:

a) To uphold the principle of the supremacy of the constitution.

b) To maintain federal equilibrium ( balance between centre and states).
c) To protect the fundamental rights of the citizens.