Di

scr
eti
onofpresi
dentandthecounci
lof
mini
ster
s-Aconst
it
uti
onalanal
ysis

Cont
ent
s
Abst
ract 2
Met
hol
ogy 3
l
i
mit
ati
ons 3
nd
The42 amendment 3
t
h
The44 AMENDMENT 3
TheDoct
ri
neofAi
dandAdv
ice:
ASt
udyofAr
ti
cle74 4
ThePr
esi
dent
ial
PowerofPar
don 5
Vet
oPoweroft
hePr
esi
dentofI
ndi
a-Di
scr
eti
onofpr
esi
dentt
oassentt
obi
l
ls 6
Absol
uteVet
o –  6
Suspensi
veVet
o– 
…………………………………………………………………………………….
7
PocketVet
o –  7
ThePowert
oIssueOr
dinances 7
TheDi
scr
eti
onar
yPoweroft
hePr
esi
dentwi
thr
espectt
oEmer
gencyPr
ovi
sions 8
Thesi
s 10
Concl
usi
on 10

1
Abst
ract

Ar eadingoft het extofIndianConst it

ut i
onindi catesthatitdoesnot
explici
tlygrantanydi scretionar ypower st othePr esi
dentofIndia,
nd
especiallyafterthe42 ( 1976) and44t hAmendment s(1978).Thepr esident
i
sexpr esslyr equiredbyAr ticle74oft heConst itutiontoalwayshav ea
council ofministerstoai dandadv iseandt oal way sactinaccordancewi t
h
i
tsadv iceinexer ciseofone’ sfunctions.Thesubsequentconst it
uti
onal
amendment s(42ndand44t h)madei tamat terofawr it
tenconstit
utional
provisi
on, l
eav i
ngt hepr esidentt heonl yleewayt hats/he‘mayrequiret he
Council ofMi nist
er storeconsi dersuchadv ice, eit
hergenerall
yor
otherwise’,butaddedt hat‘thePr esidentshal lacti naccordancewitht he
adv i
cet enderedaf tersuchr econsi derati
on’ (44thAmendment )

Methol
ogy
Thedatarequir
edf ort
hispaperwasobt
ainedbyt
hei
nter
pret
ati
onofthe
j
udici
albodiesoftheconsti
tut
ion,
theamendment
softheart
icl
esr
elat
ing
tot
hepr esi
dent.

l
imitati
ons
ther
ei salotofl
it
erat
ureandwri
terswhi
chhavethei
rpersonalopi
nionon
thediscret
ionoft
hepresi
dentandwhyiti
sso.t
herei
sal otof
compl i
cati
onstofi
ndthetruenatur
eandrol
eofthepresident

The42ndamendment
Priorto1976,therewasnoexpr essprov i
sionintheconsti
tuti
ont hatthe
presidentwasboundt oactinaccordancewi t
htheadv i
cetenderedbyt he
council ofmini
sters,t
houghi twasjudicial
lypronouncedinShamsherSi ngh
1
&Anrv sStateOfPunj ab thatthepresidentwasnotar ealexecutive,
buta
const i
tuti
onalheadwhowasboundt oactaccordingtotheadv i
ceof
nd
ministers.The42 amendmentamendedar ti
cle74(1)t
oclarif
ythis
1
1975SCR(
1)814

2
posi
ti
on.
Bef
oret
heamendmentar
ti
cl
e74(
1)st
ated
“t
her
eshal
lbeaCounci
lofMi
nist
erswi
ththePri
meMi nist
eratt
heheadt
o
ai
dandadvi
set
hePresi
denti
ntheexer
ciseofhi
sfunct
ions”
Af
tert
heamendmentar
ti
cl
e74(
1)st
ated
“Ther
eshallbeaCounci
lofMini
ster
swi t
ht hePri
meMi ni
sterattheheadto
aidandadvi
sethePresi
dentwhoshall
,i
nt heexerci
seofhi
sf uncti
ons,act
i
naccordancewit
hsuchadv i
ce”
Thewords“
Shall
”makesi
tobl
i
gat
oryf
ort
hepr
esi
dentt
oacti
naccor
dance
wit
hsuchadvi
ce.

The44thAMENDMENT
Bythe44thamendment
,aPr
ovi
sowasaddedt
oar
ti
cl
e74(
1)asf
oll
ows
“Pr
ov i
dedthatthePresi
dentmayr equir
et heCouncilofMinister
storeconsi
dersuch
adv
ice,ei
thergener
all
yorotherwise,andthePresidentshallactinaccor
dancewitht
he
adv
icetenderedaft
ersuchreconsiderat
ion”

Thenetr
esultofthisamendmentisthatt
hepresi
dent,
exceptinsome
margi
nalcasesreferr
edtobythesupremecourt
,thepresi
dentshal
lhav
e
nopowertoactinhisdiscr
eti
oninanycase.
I
ncaseherefusestodoso,thi
swil
lrenderhi
mli
abl
etoi
mpeachmenton
t
hegroundofviol
ati
onoftheconst
it
ution.

TheDoctr
ineofAi
dandAdvi
ce:
ASt
udyofAr
ti
cle74
Art
icl
e74(1)r
eadsthus:
"Ther
eshal
lbeaCouncilofMini
ster
swi
ththePri
meMi nist
eratt
hehead
toai
dandadvi
sethePresi
dentwhoshal
l
,intheexer
ciseofhisf
unct
ions,
acti
naccor
dancewit
hsuchadv i
ce."
Ifl
i
ter
all
yint
erpr
eted,i
tisver
ycl
earthatt
heCouncil
ofMi ni
ster
shasto
advi
sethePresi
dentonlyi
ntheexer
ciseofhi
sfunct
ions,
inwhichcasehe
3
hastoacti
naccordancewit
hsuchadvice.Byi
mpli
cat
ion,
thePr
esi
dent
canactonhisownintheexerci
seofhi
spowers.
2
InRam Jaway aKapur andSamsherSi ngh3,theSupr emeCour thel
dthat
sinceIndiaf oll
owst he" cabinetsy stem"asi nEngl and, i
twouldbe
l
egitimatetor efertoBr iti
shconv entionswheni nterpreti
ngAr t
icl
es74and
75.TheCour tinU.N.R.Rao"r uledt hatArti
cle74( 1)ismandat oryand
therefor
e, t
hePr esidentcannotexer ciseexecutivepowerwi thouttheaid
andadv iceoft heCounci lofMinist ers.TheCour twentont osaythatany
exerciseofexecut i
v epowerwi thoutsuchai dandadv icewouldbe
unconst i
tuti
onal i
nv iewofAr ti
cle53( 1).Thisviewwasr eit
erat
edi n
SamsherSi ngh.
Thedi st
inct
ionbet weenpower sandf uncti
ons,theycannotbeused
i
nterchangeably.Thet heoreti
calposition,t
heref
or e,i
sthatt
hePresident
cantaket heaidandadv i
ceoft heCounci lofMinister
sintheexer
ciseofhis
functi
onsandi nsuchcases, foll
owingt he1976amendment ,t
headv i
ce
shallbebindinguponhi m.Howev er,t
heamendmenthasnotchangedt he
factthatthePresidenthast otaldiscr
et i
onintheexerciseofhi
spower s.

ThePr
esi
dent
ial
PowerofPar
don

ThePr esi
dentisempower edtograntpar don,r
eprieve,r
espiteorremissi
on
ofpunishmentort osuspend,remitorcommut et hesentenceofany
personconv i
ctedofanyoffenceinallcaseswher epunishmenti sbya
courtmar t
ial
,wherethepunishmentisf oranoffenceagai nstalawrelat
ing
toamat t
ertowhichtheexecutiv
epoweroft heUni onextends,orwherethe
sentenceimposedi soneofdeath,byv i
rtueofArticle72.Itist
obenot ed
thatArti
cle72expressl
yusest heterm power.
Hence,t
heoret
ical
l
y,Ar
ti
cle74shoul
dnotapplyt
othi
sprov
isi
on.The
Pr
esident
'spowerofpar
donisadiscr
eti
onar
ypowertobeexer
cisedal
one.
Notsurpri
singly
,pr
acti
cei
ndi
catesot herwise.Theissueofwhet herArt
icle
72isadiscreti
onar
ypowerofthePr esi
dentar osei
nMar uRam v .Uni
onof
Indi
a.Inthi
scase,theCour
theldthatthepowerunderAr t
icle72wast obe
exerci
sedont heai
dandadvi
ceoft he" CentralGov
ernment "andnotbyt he
2
AIR1955SC549.
3
1975SCR(1)814

4
Presi
dentonhisownandt hatt headviceofthe"gover
nment"woul
dbe
bindi
ngonthePresident.JusticeKrishnaIyerwentontosaythatt
he
Presi
denti
sbutaf uncti
onal euphemi sm,promptlyact
ingonandonlyon
theadvi
ceoftheCouncil ofMini st
ers.
Thei ssuear oseagai ninKeharSi nghv .Uni onofI ndia4.I nt hiscase, the
Supr emeCour treiterateditsdeci sioni nMar uRam andhel dt hatinusi ng
hispowerunderAr ti
cle72, t
hePr esi denthast ot aket headv i
ceoft he
Counci lofMi nistersandi sboundbysuchadv ice.Howev ersubsequent lyi
n
thejudgment ,t
heCour texpressedt hev iewt hati tisopent ot hePr esident
i
nt heexer ci
seoft hepowerv estedi nhim byAr t
icle72, toscr utiniset he
ev i
denceonr ecor doft hecrimi nal caseandcomet oadi fferentconcl usion
from t hatreachedbyt heCour tinr egar dt otheconv ictionandsent enceof
theaccused.Thecasecont ainsacl earcont radictionbecausei fthe
Presidentcant akeani ndependentdeci sionont hebasi soft heev i
dence
placedbef orehi m, itcannotbesai dt hathei sboundbyt headv iceoft he
Counci lofMi nisters.TheSupr emeCour t'
sv erdictdidl ittl
et odi spel the
existingconf usiononwher et hepowerofpar donr eallylay .WhenKehar
Singh' smer cypet i
tionwassubmi tt edtoPr esidentVenkat araman, he
referredt hemat tert otheHomeMi nist
ry .Hewasoft heopi niont hathe
wasboundt oacceptt headv i
ceoft heCounci lofMi nist ers.Indeed, he
obser v esinhi sbookt hatdespi tetheSupr emeCour tgi vinghi m di scret i
on
i
nKeharSi ngh, hebel i
evedt hatitwasf ort heGov ernmentt odeci det he
mat terandr enderadv icetohi m.I tispr eciselybecauseofsuchanat titude
thatt heposi tionoft hePresidenthasbeenr educedt ot hatofamer e
rubberst amp

Vet
oPoweroft
hePr
esi
dentofI
ndi
a-Di
scr
eti
onofpr
esi
dentt
oassentt
o
bi
ll
s

UnderArti
cle111oftheConstit
uti
on,allbi
l
lspassedbyt heParl
i
amentcan
becomeanactonl yi
fitrecei
vestheconsentoft hePresi
dent
.The
Presi
dentcaneit
hergivehisassentt
ot hebill
orwi t
hholdhi
sassentormay
ret
urnthebil
ltotheParl
iamentforreconsiderat
ionexceptmoneybil
ls.

4
1989Cr
i.L.
J.941.

5
ThusthePresi
denthast
hev et
opoweronbil
l
spassedbytheParl
i
ament
,
whichmeansthePresi
dentcanwi
thhol
dhisassentt
othebi
ll
s.
Thepur
poseoft
hispoweri
sto
 prev
entmal
i
ciousandi
l
l-consi
der
edl
egi
sl
ati
onbyt
hePar
li
ament
,
and
 pr
evental
egi
slat
ionwhi
chmaybeunconst
it
uti
onal
.
ThePr
esi
dentofI
ndi
aisv
est
edwi
tht
hreet
ypesofv
etopower
.
 Absol
utev
eto
 Suspensi
vev
eto
 Pocketv
eto
Absol
uteVeto – 
Thi
sr ef
erst
ot hepoweroft hePresidenttowit
hholdhi
s
appr
ovaltoanybil
lpassedbythePar l
iament.Oncet hebil
li
swithhel
d,i
t
endsanddoesnotbecomeanact .Thisvetoisusedi nt
wocases.
1.Inrespectt
oprivat
emember s’
bill
s(bil
l
swhi chareintr
oducedbyany
memberoft heParli
amentwhoi snotaMi ni
ster)
2.I
nr especttothegovernmentbi
ll
swhent hecabinetr
esi
gnsaftert
he
passageoft hebi
ll
sbutbeforetheassentbythePresi
dentandthe
newcabi netadvi
sesthePresi
dentnottogiv
ehisassenttothosebil
l
s.
SuspensiveVet o– Thisisapoweroft hePresidentwhent hePr esi
dent
retur
nsabi llf
orreconsiderati
onoft heParli
ament .Howev er
,ifthebil
li
s
passedagai nbyt heParli
amentwi t
horwi t
houtamendment sandagai n
presentedtothePr esi
dent, t
hePr esi
denthast ogivehisassentt hi
sti
me.
ThePr esidentcannotexer ci
seSuspensi veVetoint hecaseofmoneybi l
l
s.
Inthi
scaset hePr esi
dentcanei t
herapprovethebi l
lorwit
hhol dhis
approval,butcannotreturnitforreconsi
derati
onoft hePar l
i
ament .Usual
ly,
thePresidentgiveshisassentt oamoneybi l
lasitrequir
esapr i
orapproval
from t
hepr esidentbeforeiti
si nt
roducedinthepar l
iament.

6
PocketVeto – Thi
sisthepowerwher ethePresidentneit
herr at
ifi
esnor
rej
ect
snorr eturnsthebil
l
, butsi
mpl ykeepsthebillpendi
ngf oran
i
ndefi
nit
eper iod.ThePresidenttakesnoact i
oneitherposi
tiveornegati
ve
onthebil
l
Thisi
spossi blebecausetheIndianConst i
tut
iondoesnotpr ov i
deanyti
me-
l
imitwit
hinwhi chthePresidenthast otakeacti
ononabi llpresentedt
o
himforhisassent .
The24th 
Const
it
uti
onal
AmendmentActof1971provi
dedt
hatt
he
Presi
denthastogi
vehisassentt
oaconst
it
uti
onal
amendmentbi
l
l.

ThePowertoIssueOrdinances
ThePresi
denthasthepowert opromul gateordi
nanceswhenbot hHouses
ofParl
i
amentarenotinsessi on.Theser emai
ninforceunti
l6weeksaf ter
bothHouseshavebeenr econvened, unlessbothHousespassr esol
uti
ons
di
sapprovi
ngofthem beforethattime.Thi spowerpermitstheexecuti
veto
dealwi
themergencysit
uat i
onsar i
singwhenPar l
i
amentisnotinsession.
Ar ti
cl e123confersthepowert opr omul gat
eor dinancesont hePr esident,
subj ecttotwocondi t
ions.Firstly,bothHousesofPar l
iamentshoul dnotbe
i
nsessi onandsecondl y,thePr esidentmustbe" sati
sfi
ed"thatasi tuation
existswhi chwarrantsthei ssuingofanor di
nance.Al it
erali
nterpretationof
Article123(1)makesi tcleart hatthepr omulgati
onofanor di
nancei sa
discr eti
onarypoweroft hePr esident .Thisisobv i
ousbecauseoft heuseof
thewor d"sati
sfi
ed".Hence, intheor y,thePr esi
dentneednott aketheai d
andadv iceoftheCounci lofMi nistersint hecour seofissui
ngor dinances.
Butt othecontr
ary,j
udici alinter
pretat
ionhasbeent othecont rary.I
nR.C
5
Cooperv .Uni
onofIndia, theSupr emeCour tr
ul edthatthePr esidenthast o
actinallmatt
ers,i
ncludingt hepromulgat i
onofanor dinance,ont headv i
ce
oftheCouncilofMinisters.TheCour tsai dthatalthoughi naconst i
tut
ional
senseanor di
nanceispr omul gatedont hesatisfacti
onoft hePr esident,i
n
trut
h,iti
spromulgatedont headv i
ceoft heCounci lofMi ni
stersandupon
thei
rsatisf
act
ion.TheCour tther
eforeimpl i
edt hatthepromul gat i
onof

5
AI
R1970SC564.

7
ordinanceswasaf unctionofthePr esi dent .Thisposi ti
onwasr eiter
atedin
6
Venkat av .St
ateofAndhr aPradesh .Howev er,i
nSar dari Lalv.Unionof
7
India, theSupr emeCour theldthati nal lplacesint heConst it
ut i
onwher e
thet er m sati
sfact
ioni sused, i
treferst ot heper sonal satisfact
ionoft he
Presi dentont hebasi soft hemat erial placedbef orehi m.Thi swas
over ruledi nt
hecaseofSamsherSi ng, wher etheCour theldthat
sat i
sf acti
onoft hePr esidentwasnothi sper sonal sati
sfact i
on,asal sohel
d
8
i
nJay antil
alShodhanv .EN.Rana , butt hesat i
sfactionoft heCounci l
of
Mi nisters.Hence, SamsherSi nghef f ectivelyruledt hatthePr esidenthadno
discr eti
oni ntheexer ci
seofhi spower sunderAr ti
cle123.

TheDiscr eti
onar
yPoweroft hePr esidentwithrespecttoEmergency
Provi
sions
Theemer gencyprovisi
onsundoubt edlyrequirechecksandbal ancesin
thei
rexercise,si
ncer ashusageoft hesepr ovisionscoul
dbehar mf ultothe
economyoft hecount r
y.I
tisthereforeimpor tanttoenqui
reint
owhet her
thePresidenthast hepowert orefuset oinvoket heemergencyprov i
sions
whenaskedt odosobyt heCounci lofMi ni
sters.
Ar
ti
cle352oft
heConst
it
uti
onpr
ovi
dest
hat
"I
fthePresi
dentissati
sfi
edthatagraveemergencyexi
stswherebythe
securi
tyofI
ndiaorofanypartoftheter
ri
toryther
eofi
sthreat
ened,whether
bywarorexternalaggr
essionorarmedrebell
i
on,hemay,byproclamat
ion,
makeadeclarati
ont ot
hateffect
..
."
Theuseoft hewor d"satisfied"meanst hatalltheargument sadv ancedin
respectofAr ti
cle123appl ytot hispr ovi
sionaswel l.Howev er,
thispower
ofthePr esidentiscir
cumscr ibedbyt herequirementunderAr ticle352(3),
ofawr ittencommuni cat i
onf rom t heUni onCabi net,di
rect
ingthei ssuance
ofapr oclamat i
onofemer gency .ThePr esidentcouldexercisehi s
discretionandr efuset oissuesuchapr oclamat i
on.Theonl yopt i
onthen
avail
abl et otheCounci lofMi nist erswoul dbet oini
tiat
eimpeachment
proceedi ngsagai nsthim, i
ft heywer eassur edofat wot hi
rdsmaj orit
y.I
n
theinter estsoftheConst i
tutionandt hemandat eofAr t
icl
e60, itis
i
mper ativethatthePr esidentexer cisehisdiscreti
on.

6
AI
R1985SC724.
7
AI
R1971SC1547
8
AI
R1964SC648.

8
I
nSt at
eofRaj ast
hanvUni onofI ndi
a  t
heSupr emeCour tl
aiddownt hata
procl
amationunderArticle356( 1)hadi mmedi ateforceandef fectandwas
notdependentont heappr ovalofbot hHousesofPar liamentandt herefore
thePresi
dentcanexerciseal lpower sav ai
l
abletohi m.  
 AndalsothatItwas
furt
herhel
dt hatevenifthepr oclamationisdisapprov edwi t
hintheper i
od
oftwomont hsitremainsv ali
df ortwomont hsandt hatev eninthecase
whereboththeHousesdonotappr oveordi sapprovet heproclamation,the
Assemblywhi chmayhav ebeendi ssolveddoesnotr ev i
ve.
 

Howev erthedecisionoftheSupr emecour tint heBomai  

 caseov er-r
uled
thi
sdeci sionandl aiddownthat………….t hatStat elegisl
ati
veassembl y
cannotbedi ssolv
edmer elyuponi ssueofPr esident i
alproclamationand
beforePar li
ament aryapprov
alisaccor dedasr equiredbyAr ti
cle356( 3).
Thepl ainlanguageoft heprovi
siondoesnoti mposeanysuchr equirement.
Thei mpel l
ingconsiderat
ionforreadingi nt
ot hear ti
clesuchl i
mitationwas
theanxi etytoplaceacheckont heexecut i
veandal sotoensur et hatgrant
offinal r
eli
efdoesnotbecomedi f f
icul
tifnoti nfruct
uous.
undertheprov
isionsofAr
ti
cle352and356thereisnodi r
ectcontr
olof
Parli
amentwit
hr egar
dtoprocl
amationofemergency.Theprocl
amation
underbothart
icl
escanonlybemadebyt hePresi
dentandt hatt
ooonlyon
theadviceoft
heCouncilofMini
ster
sasseeninthejudici
al
pronouncements.

Thesis
Iti
sseent hatthepr esi
denti svestedwit
halotofpowersandf uncti
ons.By
vir
tueoft hej udici
alpronouncement s,t
herei
safineli
nebetweent he
funct
ionsandpower softhepr esi
dent
.Theconsti
tut
ioncl
earlyment i
ons
wheret hepr esidenthasdi screti
ononhisact
ionbutpract
iceshows
somet hingelse.

9
Thepresi
dentshouldpracti
cal
l
yhav eal
lthepower
swhichtheconsti
tut
ion
best
owsuponhi m.Toenhancet hedegr
eeofpower,t
hepresi
dentshoul
d
haveacouncil
ofbur eaucr
atswhom hecanseekadvi
cebutwill
notbe
bi
ndingonhim.
Thi
sspeci
fi
ccouncilwil
lbeelect
edbyvi
rtueofanel
ect
ioni
nthe3t
ier
s
whi
chareexecut
ive,
legi
slat
iveandj
udi
ciary
.
Thi
swil
lbeaki
ndofcheckandbal
anceoneachdeci
sionoft
hepr
esi
dent
andwi
l
lprov
ideexper
ti
sei
neachofthedeci
si
onmaking.

Conclusi
on
Tomai ntai
nal l
ocat i
onofpower s,theexecut
iveissubj ectedtochecksand
control
soft helegislature.I
ntheIndi
anConstit
ut i
ont hisismanifest
edin
theform ofcollecti
ver esponsi
bil
i
tyofthePrimeMi ni
sterandt heCounci
l
tothePar l
i
ament .Thissy st
em i
sdesignedsot hatthepol icy
-makingoft
he
executi
veisi nconsonancewi t
htheactsofthel egi
slature.
I
fthePresidentofIndi
aweretobeall
owedtoexerci
sepower
i
ndependently,
thi
sv er
ypurposewoul
dbedefeat
ed.Therewoul
dbeno
methodtocheckt heacti
onsofthePr
esi
dent,
whichcouldl
eadthecount
ry
i
ntoaperiodoft y
ranny.
Fur
ther,
inI
ndia,t
hePresi
denti
snotdir
ectl
yel
ected,asi
ntheUnit
edStates.
Thi
sprovesthatt
heIndi
anPresi
denti
snotexpectedtohav
eindependent
powersint
hewayt heAmeri
canPresi
denti
s.

10