1
Summary
Polity Class 26

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS AND STRATEGY SESSION (05:00 PM)

FINANCIAL BILL (05:23 PM)

  • Financial Bill category I 
  • It contains not only any or all matters mentioned in Article 110 but also other matters of general legislation
  • Financial Bill is similar to a money Bill in the following aspects
  • a) It can be introduced only in Lok Sabha but not in Rajya Sabha
  • b) Both of them can be introduced only on the basis of the recommendation of the president. 
  • In all other matters, it is governed by the same legislative procedures applicable to an ordinary Bill. It means that it can be either rejected or amended by Rajya Sabha. In the case of disagreement, the President can call for a Joint session.  
  • After the Bill is passed by both houses of parliament, the president can either give his approval, he can return the Bill to the parliament for reconsideration or can withhold his consent.   
  • Financial Bill Category II 
  • It contains provisions involving expenditure from the consolidated fund of India but does not include any of the matters mentioned in Article 110. 
  • It is treated as an ordinary Bill. It follows the same legislative procedure
  • It is different from an ordinary Bill in that it can only be introduced in either house of the parliament and the recommendation of the president is not necessary for its introduction but his recommendation is necessary for its consideration. 

PRESIDENT OF INDIA (05:54 PM)

  • Why should we have the President/ Need for the office of the president?
  • We need the office of the president to ensure constitutionalism.
  • To ensure that there are limited government, checks & balances over the functioning of parliament, and the absence of an authoritarian government. 
  • To ensure Essential separation of power.
  • The judiciary role is only post-mortem, so President can act as custodian of constitutionalism. 
  • President has discretionary powers such as selecting the PM when there is no clear majority (Hung Lok Sabha), He can dismiss the PM once the CoM loses the confidence of the Lok Sabha.
  • Articles related to President 
  • Article 74 of the Indian constitution
  • There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice. 
  • Article 75 of the Indian constitution 
  • The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister
  • The Minister shall hold office at the pleasure of the President.
  • The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People.
  • Veto powers of the President 
  • Absolute Veto-
  • The president can reject the Bill or withdraw his assent in the case of Private member Bills. 
  • The president can reject the Bill or withdraw his assent for the Bills reserved by the state's governor for the president's approval. 
  • Suspensive Veto
  • It became the presidential power after the 44th CAA. 
  • In the 42nd CAA, the powers of the President were drastically reduced. Before the 42nd CAA, the president MAY abide by the advice of the CoM [* MAY means the President may not give the assent].
  • Through the 42nd CAA, the MAY word was replaced with SHALL. The discretionary powers of the President were taken away. 
  • In 1977, the Janta party came to power, and the 44th CAA was introduced. The president can send back the Bill for reconsideration to the Parliament. If the Bill is passed again with or without any modification the president SHALL give his assent. 
  • Pocket veto 
  • There is no time limit for the President of India to pass the Bills. 
  • Why there was no time limit?
  • President of India is the highest constitutional dignitary and no one is above the president, so the time limit was not prescribed for giving assent to the Bills. 
  • President of India can discuss the contents of the Bill, he can take the advice of the experts, and this act as checks and balances. 
  • Article 77 of the Indian constitution 
  • All executive action of the Government of India shall be taken in the President's name. 
  • The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business. 

ROLE OF THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA IN HOLDING CONSTITUTIONALISM

  • Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1952-62)
  • Dr Rajendra Prasad became President amongst the differences between J L Nehru and Sardar Patel.  
  • Dr Rajendra Prasad wanted to know the exact powers of the president of India. In a reply given by the Attorney General of India, it was stated that President's post is similar to the British Queen except that India is a republic. 
  • Dr Rajendra Prasad holds reservations against the Hindu Code Bill. President asked why the Bill is introduced only to reform the Hindu society and why there is no Uniform civil code. Finally, the Bill was passed.  
  • Used pocket Veto in case of PEPSU Bill. 
  • Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (1962-67)
  • He is also known as Philosopher's president. 
  • India was defeated in the Indo-china war. A committee was constituted to look at lapses during the war headed by Henderson Brooks.
  • Dr Radhakrishnan wanted a copy of the committee. His argument was that President is the supreme commander of the armed forces and thus it is the duty of the Government to submit the report to the President.  
  • He wanted the resignation of the Defense minister after the Indo-china war as Accountability is the essence of constitutional governance. President wanted to use Article 75 and withdraw the pleasure from the Individual minister (Creating a constitutional crisis). 
  • In 1967- Elections occurred for the President's seat, Opposition party came to power. Opposition selected the Subbarao as their candidate. He was famous for Golaknath Judgment. Congress party nominated Zakir Hussain. 
  • Zakir Hussain won the election. But he died in office (1969). 
  • 1969- Elections again happened as the former president died in office (Zakir Hussain)
  • By this time Congress was divided into two factions- Congress (O) and Congress (R). 
  • For the first time, the Electoral College of the President became important. 

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT (07:17 PM)

  • Proportional representation system by single transferrable vote (PRS/ STV)
  • Here one needs to get more than 50% of the votes polled to win the election. 
  • Electoral College of the President
  • a) Elected members of the Parliament 
  • b) Elected members of the state legislative assemblies 
  • c) Elected members of the UTs with the legislature
  • In PRS STV methods, a candidate has to give his/ her preferences 
  • Then the votes are counted and if one candidate got more than 50% then he/she will win. 
  • In case no one got more than 50%, then the candidate with the least percentage of votes polled will be eliminated. The candidate's second preference will be counted and the votes will be transferred to the other candidates. 
  • Again the votes will be counted and if one candidate got more than 50% then he/ she will win. 
  • During the 1969 election, in the first round of counting no one got the majority of votes. In the second round, V V Giri won the election. 
  • During the election of the President, the party office can not issue a whip. This provision of the constitution was used by Indira Gandhi as she asked all the members to use their conscience in the voting. 
  • V. V. Giri (1969-74)
  • Abolition of Privy purses- Bill was rejected then the ordinance was promulgated under Article 123 of the constitution. [* Indira Gandhi's argument was that privy purses are against the spirit of socialism]. 
  • [* Maximum amount of life of the ordinance is Six months six weeks and these can be introduced only when one or both the houses are not in session]
  • This ordinance was given approval by V V Giri as by this time Politicization of office started. 
  • The ordinance for the Nationalization of PSBs was also given approval. 
  • The ordinance for Private trade in food grains was also given approval. 
  • The era of politicization of the president began + the Parliamentary form of government + Ordinance raj started. 
  • Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad (1974-1977)
  • Two presidents died in office- Zakir Hussain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad
  • 1974- Indira Gandhi's government also was facing many challenges. A railway strike was going on which crippled the economy. J P Narayanan started the Anti-Corruption movement. Because of this Anti-corruption movement, the Gujarat government lost power.  
  • 12th June 1975- Allabhad HC gave a judgment that disqualified Indira Gandhi.
  • 25th June 1975- Declaration of National Emergency. The decision was not taken without the consultation of the cabinet ministers. 
  • The role of the President was questioned 
  • President did not verify whether the decision to impose an emergency has the approval of CoM. 
  • The president must check that there are inherent checks and balances- The president failed to ensure this. 
  • The role of the President was questioned as the President did not verify the approval of the cabinet. The term 'Rubber Stamp' became popular. 
  • This started the Prime ministerial form of government and the Politicization of the office of the President started. 
  • Why Rubber Stamp? / Politicization of the office of the President
  • President Fakruddin Ali Ahmad did not apply his mind during the imposition of the Emergency. 
  • 39th CAA- office of president, PM, and Speaker was beyond judicial review. It was also kept in the IXth schedule.
  • 42nd CAA- Article 74- The word 'may' was replaced by 'Shall'- for giving Assent. It took the independence of the office of the president.
  • President not following the conventions when the seat of the PM was vacant after the death of PM Indira Gandhi.
  • President of India showing dedication towards the PM.
  • Neelam Sanjeev Reddy (1977-1982)
  • 1979- Janta party lost power. Split in Janta party. Charan Singh became PM with the support of Congress. Charan Singh was given one month's time to prove the majority. 
  • Within 25 days congress party withdrew support. Charan Singh was dismissed by the president as he refused to resign after losing the confidence of the house. [* Discretionary power of the president] [* Charan Singh was the only PM who did not see the parliament once]
  • There is no scope for presidential rules at the centre.
  • 1980- Indira Gandhi returned to power. 
  • Article 356 was used to dismiss the state governments in 5 states- President did not use discretionary powers [* Evidence of politicization]
  • Giani Zail Singh (1982-1987)
  • Indira Gandhi envisaged the idea of a Committed president. 
  • 1984- Indira Gandhi was assassinated by a Sikh bodyguard for "Operation Bluestar"
  • Convention was- Parliamentary party in LS must meet and select the PM, till then the seniormost member used to be PM [* Example- Gulzari Lal Nanda became PM after Nehru's death, and after Lal Bahadur Shastri's death]
  • After Indira Gandhi's death President invited Rajeev Gandhi to become the PM. 
  • 1984- Anti-Sikh riots happened in Delhi. 
  • Giani Zail Singh requested the PM to take action. The inaction by the PM led to the deterioration of relations between the PM and PoI. 
  • 1985-Elections held to LS and Rajiv Gandhi returned back to power with Absolute Majority. 
  • 1985-87= serious conflict between the PM and President of India. 
  • Question- Discuss the Veto powers of the President of India with relevant examples. (10 marks/ 150 words)

The topic for the next class:- Events after 1987 in the history of the office of the President.