Laxmikanth Test: The Prime Minister- 2 - UPSC MCQ

• These are the provisions as per Article 78 constitution.

• It also requires the Prime Minister to furnish such information relating to the administration of the Union's affairs and proposals for legislation as the President may call for.

• This article is one of the most important ones in the constitution delineating the relationship between Prime Minister and President.

• On the other hand, the legislature can pass no-confidence motion to remove the council of Ministers from office.

• Speaker, Lok Sabha only is authorised to do so.

1. He chairs Cabinet meetings. He coordinates the work of different Departments. His decisions are final in case of disagreements arising between Departments. He exercises general supervision of different ministries.

2. All ministers work under his leadership. The Prime Minister distributes and redistributes work to the ministers. He also has the power to dismiss ministers.

3. If the cabinet is the most powerful, inside it the PM is the most powerful.

• Article 75 says only that the president shall appoint the Prime Minister. However, this does not imply that the president is free to appoint anyone as the Prime Minister.

• Following the conventions of the parliamentary system of government, the President has to appoint the majority party leader in the Lok Sabha as the Prime Minister.

• But, when no party has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, then the President may exercise his personal discretion in the prime minister's selection and appointment.

Before the Prime Minister enters upon his office, the president administers the oaths of office and secrecy to him. In his oath of office, the Prime Minister swears:

• To bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India,

• To uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India,

• To faithfully and conscientiously discharge the duties of his office, and

• To do right to all manner of people following the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill will.

The MP also takes a similar oath apart from the oath of secrecy and the last point in the oath of Prime Minister (or Union Ministers). The oath of MPs is to

1. bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India;

2. uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India; and

3. faithfully discharge the duty upon which he is about to enter.

Unless a member takes the oath, he cannot vote and participate in the House's proceedings and does not become eligible for parliamentary privileges and immunities.

1. He recommends persons who can be appointed as ministers by the president. The President can appoint only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the Prime Minister.

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 the council of ministers and influences its decisions.

5. He guides, directs, controls and coordinates the activities of all the ministers.

6. He can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by resigning from office.

Since the Prime Minister stands at the head of the ministers' council, the other ministers cannot function when the Prime Minister resigns or dies. In other words, the resignation or death of an incumbent Prime Minister automatically dissolves the ministers' council and thereby generates a vacuum. The resignation or death of any other minister, on the other hand, merely creates a vacancy which the Prime Minister may or may not like to fill.

So, to dismiss a minister, including cabinet ministers, the President requires the prime minister's consent.

Without the Prime Minister's advice, it would be unconstitutional to remove a minister.

• The President cannot arbitrarily summon or prorogue the house's proceedings, but based on the prime minister's advice. However, he is not bound to accept the prime minister's advice when he is seeking a vote of confidence.

• When he recommends dissolution, he should not have been subject to a prior vote of confidence.

• The Prime Minister is the leader of the Lower House. In this capacity, he enjoys these powers.

In 1980, the Delhi High Court held that the Constitution does not require that a person prove his majority in the Lok Sabha before being appointed as the Prime Minister.

The President may first appoint him the Prime Minister and then ask him to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha within a reasonable period.

For example, Charan Singh (in 1979), and after in a series, V.P. Singh (1989), Chandrasekhar (1990), P.V. Narasimha Rao (1991), A.B. Vajpayee (1996), Deve Gowda (1996), I.K. Gujral (1997) and again A.B. Vajpayee (1998).

This does not imply that all government proceedings will be secret or the Prime Minister's office will work in confidentiality. So, both statements are incorrect.