4 THE UNION
India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States (Article 1). The States and Territories thereof shall be as specified in the first schedule (Article 2).
Distribution of Powers : The Union has exclusive power to make laws on all matters in List I of the Seventh Schedule (Union List). The states have exclusive power to make laws on all matters in List II (State List). The legislature on any matter enumerated in List III (Concurrent List) (Art. 246).
Residuary Powers :- The Union has exclusive power to make laws on any matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List or State List (Art. 248).
Overriding Powers :- In case of any conflict between Union laws, the Union laws shall prevail. States (Rajya Sabha) and House of the People (Lok Sabha).
4.1 The Union Executive
THE PRESIDENT [Art. 52]
The Article 52 says 'There shall be a president of India'
Article 53 says that the executive power of the union shall be vested in the president.
The president is the head of the Indian State.
He is the only nominal executive head.
The provisions dealing with the election of the President are provided in Articles 54 and 55 and the President and the vice president act of 1952, which was amended in 1974.
The executive powers of the Union are exercised by the President of India either directly or through officers subordinate to him. The 42nd Amendment made it explicit that he would always act on the advice of the Council of Ministers. However, under the 44th Amendment the President has been given the option of asking the Cabinet to reconsider its advice. But he must act in accordance with the reconsidered advice.
Election of the President :-
He is indirectly elected by an electoral college comprising
The elected members of the House of parliament and
The elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the states by a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote; voting is by secret ballot.
Qualification for election as President
He must be a citizen of India,
He must not be less than 35 years of age,
He must be qualified for election as member of Lok Sabha but shall not be a member, and
He must not be holding any office of profit under the Government of India or any other Government. A Governor of State or a Minister of the Union or State or Vice President of the Union will not, however, be considered as a person holding an office of profit.
Procedure of Election :- The procedure of Presidential election is contained in Articles 54 and 55. While Art. 54 provides for the creation of an electoral college consisting of all the elected M.L.A's and MP's, Art. 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 a single transferable vote system.
Number of votes of an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State :- According to Article 55, every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State shall have as many Votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the State by the total number of the elected members of the Assembly. If the remainder is not less than five hundred the votes of such elected members shall be increased by one. In brief the formula is –
Value of votes of an MLA
Example :- If the population of a State is 10000000 and the number of elected members of the Legislative Assembly of that state is 100, the value of votes of a member of the Assembly shall be –
It has been stated in the Constitution by 42nd Amendment that the population of each State shall be that of the 1971 census for this purpose till the new census after the year 2000 has been conducted.
The Value of Votes of an Elected Member of Parliament :- Each elected member of Parliament shall have such number of votes as may be obtained by dividing the total number of votes assigned to the members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States by the total number of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament. The formula for determining the value of votes of an elected members of Parliament is –
Example :- If the number of votes assigned to the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all States is 300000 and there are 500 elected members of Parliament, the value of votes of an elected member of Parliament shall be – If the remainder is not less than one half, the value of votes shall be increased by one.
Term of Office :- The President holds office for five years. Unless he resigns earlier or he is removed from office by impeachment. He is eligible for re-election.
Salary and Allowances :- The salary of the President of India is Rs. 5 lakh/month. Besides the monthly salary, the President of India also gets several allowances. Here are some of the allowances: Rs. 1.5 lakh/month as pension (at current rates).
Accommodation: Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of the President of India. Located in New Delhi, Rashtrapati Bhawan has 340 rooms and it has a floor area of 2, 00,000 square feet.
Procedure for Impeachment :- It is laid down in the constitution that the charge of violation of the Constitution may be preferred by either of the two chambers of the Union Parliament before the other House, which would then take up the responsibility of getting the charge investigated. However, in order that a charge is preferred by a House it is necessary that:
A resolution containing the proposal preferring the charge of violation is moved after a 14-day notice in writing signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of the House levying the charge, and
The resolution is passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the same House. The other House then investigates into the matter and, if a resolution is passed in that House by not less than two-thirds of its total membership substantiating the charge, the President is removed from his office.
Impeachment (Article 61) :- The President may be impeached on a charge of violation of the Constitution. Such impeachment can be moved in either House of the Parliament by duly signed by at least one-fourth of the total number of members of the house and moved after giving at least 14 days' advance notice.
Such a resolution must be passed by a majority of not less than 2/3rd of the total membership of the House. The charge is then investigated. The President has the right to appear and to be represented at such an investigation. If the other House after investigation passes a resolution by 2/3rd majority declaring that the charge is proved, such resolution shall have the effect of removing the President from his office from the date on which the resolution is so passed.
Under Article 11, section 4 of the American Constitution, the President and all Civil Officers of the United States can be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, "Treason, Bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanours". In America the power to initiate the impeachment proceedings lies with the Lower House, which appoints a Committee to investigate the charges. The findings of the House are then sent to the Senate for action. The Senate, which hears the impeachment, is presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of America. If the Senate by 2/3rd majority of the members present at the trial agrees to the charges, the President is convicted and removed.
Vacancy in the office of President :- A vacancy in the office of the President may be caused in any of the following ways:
on the expiry of his term of five years;
by his death;
by his resignation;
on his removal by impeachment;
otherwise, e.g. on the setting aside of his election as President.
When the vacancy is going to be caused by the expiration of the term of the sitting President, an election to fill the vacancy must be completed before the expiration of the term. But in order to prevent an 'interregnum', owing to any possible delay in such completion, it is provided that the outgoing President must continue to hold office, notwithstanding that his term has expired, until his successor enters upon his office. In case of vacancy arising by reason of any cause other than the expiry of the term of the incumbent in office an election to fill the vacancy must be held as soon as possible after, and in no case later than, six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy. Immediately after such vacancy arises, it is the Vice-President who shall act as President.
Apart from a permanent vacancy, the President may be temporarily unable to discharge his functions, in which case the Vice-President shall discharge his functions until the date on which the President resumes his duties.
