List of Vice Presidents of India from 1952 to 2017 till present time
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (S. Radhakrishnan) – 13 May 1952 to 14 May 1957
Zakir Hussain – 13 May 1962 to 12 May 1967
VV Giri – 13 May 1967 to 3 May 1969
Gopal Swarup Pathak – 31 August 1969 to 30 August 1974
BD Jatti – 31 August 1974 to 30 August 1979
Mohammad Hidayatullah – 31 August 1979 to 30 August 1984
Ramaswamy Venkataraman (R. Venkataraman) – 31 August 1984 to 27 July 1987
Shankar Dayal Sharma – 3 September 1987 to 24 July 1992
K R Narayan – 21 August 1992 to 24 July 1997
Krishnakant – 21 August 1997 to 27 July 2002
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat – 19 August 2002 to 21 July 2007
Hamid Ansari – 11 August 2007 to 19 July 2017
Venkaiah Naidu – 8 August 2017 till now
The post of the President of India is the top post of India, the President gets a lot of powers which he uses from time to time as well as a lot of tasks are also associated with the post of the President which has to be discharged by the President. So in this post we are going to talk about all those powers and functions.
Powers and functions of the President of India
According to Article 53, the head of the federal executive in India is the President and the powers of the executive are vested in his hands.
Administrative power
The President is the formal head of the executive of the Union, hence all the work of the Federal Executive is done in the name of the President.
Appointment rights
In the Indian Constitution, the President appoints the Prime Minister, other ministers of the Union, the Attorney General, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the judges of the Supreme and High Courts, the Governor, the Water Disputes Commission, the Finance Commission, the Union Public Service Commission, the Chief and other Election Commissioners and the State Language Commission, etc.
Regarding the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court, under Article 124 (2), the President is expected to consult the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the judges of the Supreme and High Courts whom he deems necessary to do so.
The President has the right to relieve the Minister, the Attorney General, the Governor, the Supreme Court, the Chairman of the Union and State Public Service Commission or the Chairman of the State Public Service Commission or the Member of Parliament, on the recommendation of the Supreme Court or High Court judge or the Election Commissioner etc. on the adverse remarks of the Supreme Court.
Military power
The President is the head of the armed forces and appoints the chiefs of the three forces, air force and navy, but the President's powers are not beyond legislative control.
Political power
The topic of political power is broad but still the following topics can be kept under it.
making treaties with foreign countries
determination of foreign policy
conduct of foreign policy
Representation of India in international activities
Legislative power
The legislative powers of the President of India, which will be exercised only on the advice of the Ministers under Article 74(1), are of many types and can be considered under the following headings.
Summoning a session of Parliament Prorogation Dissolution
Under this, the President has the power to summon or prorogue the Houses of Parliament and dissolve the Lok Sabha.
In case of deadlock, he also has the power to call a joint meeting of both the Houses as per Articles 85 and 108.
Commencement address
According to Article 87, the President will address both the Houses of the Parliament assembled together at the beginning of the first session after the general election of the Lok Sabha and will tell the Parliament the reason for its convocation.
Right to nominate members in the Houses
The President can nominate 12 members to the Rajya Sabha under Article 801 and two members to the Lok Sabha under Article 331.
Reports
Budget: The President has the power to present the CAG report, the recommendations of the Finance Commission and documents related to the reports of various commissions before the Parliament.
prior approval for MLA
It is expected in the Constitution that prior approval of the President is required to make laws on certain subjects –
According to Article 3, the President has been given the exclusive power to recommend legislation for the creation of new states and to change the boundaries of existing states so that before doing so, the views of the affected states can be obtained.
According to Article 117 (1), prior permission of the President is necessary to lay the Money Bill on the table of the House.
Under Article 304, the approval of the President is necessary before placing a bill imposing any kind of restriction on freedom of trade on the table of the House.
Bill legal form
A bill takes the form of law only after the signature of the President.
Veto
The power of the President of India to veto a bill passed by the Parliament is not as effective as it is in America.
Extreme veto
Whenever such a situation arises that a government bill has been passed by the Parliament and the government is dissolved for some reason before it gets the assent of the President and the government recommends its repeal, then the President, if the said bill is passed, If he deems it necessary to do so, he can veto it.
Suspensive veto
The President uses this by sending the bill passed by the Parliament for reconsideration.
JB veto
When the President neither sends back the bill passed by the Parliament for reconsideration nor gives assent to it nor refuses assent, in this situation the bill remains in the President's pocket and it is called pocket veto.
The first use of this veto was on the Indian Postal Amendment Bill 1986 passed by the Parliament in 1986, when the then President Giani Zail Singh Meena gave permission to it and did not deny it. It is still lying in the President's pocket.
Authority to issue ordinances
When Parliament is not in session and there is an immediate need for some legislation, the President can issue an ordinance. Such ordinances have the same effect as any parliamentary act.
But this ordinance must be approved by the Parliament within 6 weeks from the date of commencement of the Parliament session, otherwise it is automatically considered repealed.
This ordinance cannot be used in the context of emergency described in Article 352.
Right to pardon
Those who have been duly punished by the court for any crime.
In all cases in which punishment has been awarded by a Court Martial.
In all cases where death penalty has been awarded.
Under this, the President can give full pardon to the punished person or can reduce his sentence. The right of pardon is a grace right.