The Union executive

The first principle

India chose a parliamentary executive, in which the head of state reigns and the government, answerable to the Lok Sabha, rules. The President therefore holds the executive power of the Union in name (Article 53), while it is exercised on the advice of a Council of Ministers led by the Prime Minister. The design keeps a non partisan head above politics, to guard the Constitution in rare moments, and puts real power with those who can be removed by the people's House.

The core

Election of the President

• The electoral college. The President is elected by the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the state Legislative Assemblies, including those of Delhi and Puducherry (Article 54). Nominated members and members of Legislative Councils do not vote.
• Value of votes (Article 55). The vote of each Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is worth the state's population divided by the number of elected MLAs, divided by 1,000, so that states are weighted by population. The total value of all MLAs' votes is then divided by the number of elected Members of Parliament (MPs) to give each MP's vote, which keeps parity between the Union and the states. The Eighty fourth Amendment (2001) froze the population base at the 1971 Census until the first census after 2026. In 2022 an MP's vote was worth 700.
• Method. Voting is by proportional representation by single transferable vote, by secret ballot. A candidate needs a quota of more than half the valid votes; if no one reaches it, the lowest candidate is eliminated and his ballots transferred by second preferences until someone does.
• Term and removal. The President holds office for five years and may be re elected. Under Article 61 he can be impeached for "violation of the Constitution" by a resolution moved in either House with 14 days' notice signed by a quarter of its members, passed by two thirds of its total membership, investigated by the other House and passed there by the same majority. No President has been impeached.

The nominal head and his discretion

• Bound by advice. Article 74(1), as amended by the Forty second Amendment (1976), says the President "shall" act on the advice of the Council of Ministers. The Forty fourth Amendment (1978) allowed him to send the advice back once for reconsideration, after which he must act on it.
• Situational discretion. Discretion arises where there is no advice to follow, or the advice comes from a ministry that has lost its claim to it: appointing a Prime Minister when no party or coalition has a clear majority, deciding whether to dissolve the Lok Sabha on the advice of a Prime Minister who has lost the majority, and dismissing a ministry that has lost confidence but will not resign.
• Veto. The President may withhold assent (absolute veto), return a Bill once (suspensive veto) or simply sit on it, because the Constitution sets no time limit (pocket veto). Zail Singh used the pocket veto on the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill, 1986, which would have widened the government's power to intercept mail.

The pardoning power

• Article 72. The President can grant a pardon (wipes out sentence and conviction), commutation (substitutes a lighter sentence), remission (reduces the period), respite (lighter sentence for a special reason such as pregnancy) and reprieve (temporary stay, usually of a death sentence). The power covers offences against Union law, sentences by court martial, and all death sentences.
• On advice and under review. In Maru Ram (1980) the Court held that the power is exercised on the advice of the Council of Ministers. In Kehar Singh (1989) it held there is no right to an oral hearing, but the decision can be reviewed on limited grounds, which Epuru Sudhakar (2006) listed as non application of mind, mala fides, irrelevant considerations and arbitrariness.
• Delay. In Shatrughan Chauhan (2014) the Court held that unexplained and excessive delay in deciding a mercy petition is a ground for commuting a death sentence.
• The Governor's power. Under Article 161 the Governor can pardon offences against state law but has no power over court martial sentences. Since Article 72 gives the President power over every death sentence, Article 72(3) expressly saves only the Governor's power to suspend, remit or commute one, and the power to pardon a death sentence is treated as the President's. In A. G. Perarivalan (2022) the Court held that the Governor is bound by the state cabinet's advice under Article 161 and that his long delay on that advice was not justified, and it ordered the convict's release.

Dimensions

The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers

• Appointment and size. The President appoints the Prime Minister and, on the Prime Minister's advice, the other ministers (Article 75(1)). The Ninety first Amendment (2003) capped the Council of Ministers at 15 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha. A non member can be a minister for six months only.
• Responsibility. Ministers are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha (Article 75(3)) and individually hold office at the pleasure of the President, which in practice means the Prime Minister can ask a minister to resign.
• The Cabinet system. The Council has three ranks: Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State, and Deputy Ministers. The Cabinet, a smaller body of senior ministers, takes the real decisions; it was not named in the original Constitution and entered it only through the Forty fourth Amendment. Much of its work is done in Cabinet committees, such as those on Security, Economic Affairs, Political Affairs and Appointments.
• Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Set up in 1947 as the Prime Minister's Secretariat and renamed in 1977, it advises the Prime Minister and coordinates across ministries, and its growth has made the Prime Minister far more than "first among equals".
• Effect on Parliament. The growth of the Cabinet system, backed by party discipline, has shifted power from Parliament to the Cabinet; this is examined in the note on parliamentary accountability.

Ministries and Departments

• The rules. Under Article 77(3), the President makes the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, which assign subjects to ministries and departments, and the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961, which say which decisions need the Cabinet, the Prime Minister or a minister.
• Structure. A ministry, headed by a minister, may have one or more departments, each headed by a Secretary. Within a department, work flows through wings, divisions, branches and sections.
• Attached and subordinate offices. Attached offices give technical advice and executive direction for policy, such as the Central Public Works Department under the housing ministry. Subordinate offices are field bodies that carry out decisions in detail.
• Cabinet Secretariat. Working directly under the Prime Minister, it serves the Cabinet and its committees, coordinates between ministries and watches whether decisions are carried out. The Cabinet Secretary, the senior most civil servant, heads it and chairs the Committee of Secretaries.

In practice

The ordinance power

• Article 123. When either House is not in session, the President may promulgate an ordinance if satisfied that circumstances make immediate action necessary. It has the force of law but must be laid before Parliament and lapses six weeks after both Houses reassemble.
• Review of satisfaction. In R. C. Cooper (1970) the Court indicated that the President's satisfaction could be questioned. The Thirty eighth Amendment (1975) made it final, but the Forty fourth Amendment removed that clause.
• Krishna Kumar Singh v State of Bihar (2017). A seven judge bench held that repromulgating ordinances without placing them before the legislature is a fraud on the Constitution, that laying an ordinance before the legislature is mandatory, and that the satisfaction behind an ordinance is open to judicial review.

The Vice President

• In one line. The Vice President, elected by members of both Houses, is ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and acts as President in a vacancy; the role in the House is covered in the note on Parliament.

Issues and way forward

• No time limit on the President. The absence of a deadline for assent or for mercy petitions leaves room for delay. Fixed time frames for deciding mercy petitions would reduce the cruelty of long waits on death row, which Shatrughan Chauhan recognised as a ground for commutation.
• Use of ordinances. Ordinances are often issued just before or after a session, to avoid debate. They should be limited to genuine urgency, as Krishna Kumar Singh insists, and Parliament should take up each ordinance early in the next session.
• Concentration in the PMO. A strong PMO speeds decisions but can weaken ministerial responsibility, since ministers answer to Parliament for decisions taken elsewhere. Clearer allocation of roles and Cabinet discussion of major decisions would restore balance.
• Size and spread of ministries. Splitting subjects across many ministries hampers coordination. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission recommended grouping related departments under fewer ministries.

Common confusions

• Pardon and commutation. A pardon removes both sentence and conviction; commutation only substitutes a lighter sentence.
• President and Governor on death sentences. The President can pardon a death sentence; Article 72(3) saves for the Governor only the power to suspend, remit or commute it.
• Council of Ministers and Cabinet. The Council of Ministers is the constitutional body of all ministers; the Cabinet is its senior core, which takes the decisions.
• Allocation and Transaction of Business Rules. The first decides which ministry handles a subject; the second decides how and by whom decisions are taken.

For the exam

• Keyword bank: nominal head, Article 74(1), aid and advice, situational discretion, pocket veto, electoral college, value of votes, single transferable vote, impeachment, Article 72, Maru Ram, Shatrughan Chauhan, Allocation of Business Rules, Cabinet Secretariat, Article 123.
• Practise the previous year questions on this topic →
• Use in an answer:
  • Introduction with data: "In the 2022 presidential election an MP's vote was worth 700, a figure derived from the 1971 Census that the Eighty fourth Amendment has frozen until the first census after 2026."
  • Introduction with a judgement: "In Maru Ram (1980) the Supreme Court held that even the President's mercy power is exercised on the advice of the Council of Ministers, which shows how completely the Constitution places real power with the elected government."
  • Conclusion: "The Union executive works because a non partisan President guards the Constitution in rare moments while an accountable Council of Ministers governs in ordinary ones."
  • Conclusion: "Time bound decisions on mercy petitions, sparing use of ordinances and genuine Cabinet deliberation would keep executive power within the parliamentary design."