Laxmikanth Test: The President- 2 - UPSC MCQ

The President may, with the consent of the state government, entrust to that government any of the executive functions of the Centre. Conversely, the governor of a State may, with the consent of the Central government, entrust to that government any of the executive functions of the state.

1. In the context of a Money Bill in the Indian parliamentary system, let's evaluate the given statements:

   1. The President can reject a Money Bill.
      - This statement is incorrect. The President cannot reject a Money Bill. According to the Indian Constitution the President must either give assent or withhold it, but withholding is not considered rejection

   2. He can also return the Money Bill for reconsideration.
      - This statement is also incorrect. Unlike other bills, a Money Bill cannot be returned by the President for reconsideration. The President can only recommend amendments to an Ordinary Bill, but for a Money Bill, the President must either give assent or withhold assent.

   Therefore, the correct answer is:

   4. Neither 1 nor 2

The veto power enjoyed by the executive in modern states can be classified into the following four types:

1. Absolute veto, that is, withholding of assent to the bill passed by the legislature.

2. Qualified veto, which can be overridden by the legislature with a higher majority.

3. Suspensive veto, which can be overridden by the legislature with an ordinary majority.

4. Pocket veto, that is, taking no action on the bill passed by the legislature. Of the above four, the President of India is vested with a three-absolute veto, suspensive veto and pocket veto. There is no qualified veto in the case of Indian President; it is possessed by the American President.

The correct answer is Option 2.
Key Points

Election of President of India:

• The provisions of the election of the President are laid down in Article 54 of the Constitution of India.
• The President is elected by an Electoral College, which consists of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all the States and also of NCT of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The President shall hold office for a term of 5 years from the date on which he enters upon his office.
• An election of the President can be called in question by means of an election petition presented to the Supreme Court after the election is over. 
• In the presidential election, one voter can cast only one vote. While the MLAs vote may vary from state to state, the MPs vote always remain constant.
• The number of the total value of the MPs votes must equal, the total value of the MLAs to maintain the State and the Union balance.
• The votes of all MLA’s do not have equal values.
• Facilities are provided by the Election Commission for any MP to vote in the capital of State.

Hence, from the above-mentioned points, it becomes clear that the votes of all MLA’s have equal values.

Power in respect of Bill

1) When both the houses pass the Bill by the majority and send the Bill to the President of India for his assent, he can give his assent or withhold his assent and sent back the bill to the houses. But is both the houses pass the bill without any change, it will become obligatory to the President of India to give his assent. In case of a simple bill, he can keep it with himself without accepting or rejecting it for an unlimited period of time. This power of president is known as a pocket veto.

Further as per Article 200, In some cases, the Bills presented to the Governor by the State Legislature may be reserved by the Governor for the consideration of the president if that bill is not money bill of the State legislature. The President can accept it or tell the Governor to send it back for reconsideration or he may direct him to not send it back.

2) No money Bill can be introduced without the prior permission of the President of India. As indicated by the Constitution of India, the Annual Financial Statement is set by the President before both the Houses of Parliament. 

3) Article 113  prescribes that no demand for grants can be presented in the Lok Sabha without the President of India's prior approval. Under Articles 117 and 274 of the Indian Constitution, a Presidential recommendation is also required for tabling a Money Bill in the Lok Sabha.

4)Parliament may by law establish a Contingency Fund in the nature of an imprest to be entitled the Contingency Fund of India into which shall be paid from time to time such sums as may be determined by such law, and the said Fund shall be placed at the disposal of the President to enable advances to be made by him out of such Fund for the purposes of meeting unforeseen expenditure pending authorisation of such expenditure by Parliament by law under Article 115 or Article 116

ARTICLE 61: PROCEDURE FOR IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT

(1) When a President is to be impeached for violation of the Constitution, the charge shall be preferred by either House of Parliament.

(2) No such charge shall be preferred unless – (a) the proposal to prefer such charge is contained in a resolution which has been moved after at least fourteen days’ notice in writing signed by not less than one-fourth of the total number of members of the House has been given of their intention to move the resolution, and (b) such resolution has been passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House.

(3) When a charge has been so preferred by either House of Parliament, the other House shall investigate the charge or cause the charge to be investigated and the President shall have the right to appear and to be represented at such investigation.

(4) If as a result of the investigation a resolution is passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House by which the charge was investigated or caused to be investigated, declaring that the charge preferred against the President has been sustained, such resolution shall have the effect of removing the President from his office as from the date on which the resolution is so passed.

The nominated members of either House of Parliament can participate in the impeachment of the President though they do not participate in his election; (b) the elected members of the legislative assemblies of states and the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry do not participate in the impeachment of the President though they participate in his election. Impeachment is a Quasi-judicial procedure in the parliament