Union Executive and Parliament

The President (Articles 52–62)

• Election: indirect, by an electoral college of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of states, Delhi and Puducherry (Article 54). The method is proportional representation by single transferable vote, with secret ballot. The value of an MLA's vote depends on the state's population (1971 census); the value of an MP's vote is the total value of all MLA votes divided by the number of elected MPs.
• Qualifications: citizen, 35 years, qualified to be a Lok Sabha member, holds no office of profit.
• Term: 5 years; eligible for re-election. Resignation goes to the Vice-President.
• Impeachment (Article 61): only for "violation of the Constitution". Either House can start it with a notice signed by a quarter of its members and 14 days' notice. Each House must pass it by two-thirds of its total membership. Nominated members take part in impeachment though they do not vote in the election.
• Vacancy: election must be held within six months. The Vice-President acts meanwhile.

Powers

• Executive: appoints the PM and ministers, Attorney General, CAG, Chief Election Commissioner, UPSC members, Governors, Finance Commission.
• Legislative: summons and prorogues Parliament, dissolves Lok Sabha, addresses the first session each year, nominates 12 members to Rajya Sabha (art, literature, science, social service). Assent to bills; ordinances (Article 123).
• Financial: Money Bills need his prior recommendation; lays the Budget; Contingency Fund of India.
• Judicial: pardon, reprieve, respite, remission, commutation (Article 72).
• Veto: absolute (withhold assent), suspensive (return once for reconsideration, not for Money Bills), and pocket veto (no time limit for a decision on an ordinary bill, as President Zail Singh did with the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill, 1986). For Constitution Amendment Bills he must give assent (24th Amendment).
• Emergencies: national (352), state/President's Rule (356), financial (360).

The President acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. The 42nd Amendment made the advice binding. The 44th Amendment allowed him to send it back once for reconsideration.

Vice-President (Articles 63–71)

• Elected by all members of both Houses (elected and nominated). State legislatures do not take part.
• Ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Removed by a Rajya Sabha resolution passed by an effective majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha, after 14 days' notice. No grounds are stated.
• Acts as President for a maximum of six months when there is a vacancy.

Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (Articles 74–75)

• The PM is appointed by the President. Other ministers are appointed on the PM's advice.
• Collective responsibility to the Lok Sabha (Article 75(3)); individual responsibility to the President.
• A non-member can be a minister for six months.
• 91st Amendment (2003): the Council of Ministers cannot exceed 15% of the Lok Sabha strength; a member disqualified for defection cannot be a minister.
• Three tiers: Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers. The "Cabinet" was mentioned in the Constitution only by the 44th Amendment (Article 352).
• Attorney General (Article 76): the highest law officer; qualified to be a Supreme Court judge; can speak in Parliament but cannot vote.

Parliament (Articles 79–122)

Parliament = President + Rajya Sabha + Lok Sabha.

	Lok Sabha	Rajya Sabha
Maximum strength	550 elected (530 from states, 20 from UTs). The two Anglo-Indian seats were ended by the 104th Amendment, 2019	250 (238 elected, 12 nominated)
Present strength	543 elected	245 seats (233 elected, 12 nominated)
Election	Direct, first-past-the-post	Elected by MLAs by proportional representation (STV); open ballot since 2003
Term	5 years (extendable 1 year at a time in emergency)	Permanent; one-third retire every second year; member's term 6 years
Minimum age	25	30
Presiding officer	Speaker (elected by members)	Chairman (Vice-President)

Special powers of the Rajya Sabha: Article 249 (law on a State List subject in national interest), Article 312 (create new All India Services), and approving an emergency proclamation when the Lok Sabha is dissolved.

Special powers of the Lok Sabha: Money Bills start only here; no-confidence motions; the Rajya Sabha can only delay a Money Bill for 14 days.

Law-making

• Ordinary bill: introduced in either House; three readings; if the Houses disagree for more than six months, the President may call a joint sitting (Article 108), presided over by the Speaker. Used only three times: Dowry Prohibition (1961), Banking Service Commission Repeal (1978), and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2002).
• Money Bill (Article 110): only taxes, borrowing, the Consolidated Fund, appropriation, and matters incidental to these. The Speaker certifies it. Introduced only in Lok Sabha with the President's recommendation.
• Financial bills (Article 117): contain money matters and other matters too; they follow the ordinary bill procedure except for introduction.
• Constitution Amendment Bill: special majority in each House; no joint sitting.

Budget

The Constitution calls it the Annual Financial Statement (Article 112).

• Stages: presentation, general discussion, scrutiny by departmental committees, voting on demands for grants (Lok Sabha only), Appropriation Bill, Finance Bill.
• Cut motions: policy cut (reduce to ₹1), economy cut, token cut (₹100).
• Vote on account (Article 116) allows spending for part of the year before the Budget is passed.
• Charged expenditure is not voted on, for example the salary of the President, judges of the Supreme Court, CAG, and debt charges.

Devices of parliamentary proceedings

• Question Hour, then Zero Hour. Zero Hour is an Indian innovation, from 1962, and not in the rules.
• Starred questions get an oral answer with supplementaries. Unstarred questions get a written answer.
• Motions:
  • adjournment motion, to discuss a definite urgent matter, which needs 50 members;
  • calling attention motion;
  • no-confidence motion, Lok Sabha only, needs 50 members;
  • censure motion, which must state reasons;
  • motion of thanks on the President's address.
• Quorum: one-tenth of the total members.

Parliamentary committees

• Financial committees:
  • Public Accounts Committee: 22 members (15 LS, 7 RS); examines the CAG's audit reports; chaired by the opposition by convention.
  • Estimates Committee: 30 members, all from the Lok Sabha; known as the "continuous economy committee".
  • Committee on Public Undertakings: 22 members.
• Departmentally Related Standing Committees: 24 in number, set up in 1993.
• Ad hoc committees: select and joint committees on bills.

Anti-defection (Tenth Schedule)

• Added by the 52nd Amendment (1985).
• A member is disqualified for giving up party membership voluntarily, or for voting against the party whip.
• The exception is a merger supported by two-thirds of the legislature party. The 91st Amendment removed the old one-third "split" exception.
• The Speaker or Chairman decides. That decision is subject to judicial review (Kihoto Hollohan, 1992).

Emergency provisions (Part XVIII)

	National (352)	State / President's Rule (356)	Financial (360)
Ground	War, external aggression, armed rebellion	Failure of constitutional machinery in a state	Threat to financial stability
Approval	Within 1 month, by special majority of each House	Within 2 months, by simple majority	Within 2 months, simple majority
Duration	6 months at a time, indefinitely	6 months at a time, maximum 3 years (beyond 1 year only if national emergency and EC certifies)	Until revoked
Used	1962, 1971, 1975	Over 100 times	Never

S. R. Bommai (1994) made President's Rule open to judicial review. A government's majority must be tested on the floor of the House. Secularism is part of the basic structure.

Exam tip: Remember "who presides, who elects, who removes" for each office. Also remember the numbers: 14 days (Money Bill delay), 6 months (gap between sessions, minister without a seat, vacancy of President), 1 and 2 months (approval of emergencies).