President holds a unique position. But it is not free of constitutional dilemmas

Whereas contesting the 1967 presidential election in opposition to Zakir Hussain, former chief justice Subba Rao claimed he wouldn’t be certain by the recommendation of the Council of Ministers. Although he misplaced, his marketing campaign left a profound impression. In 1976, within the forty second modification, Article 74 was additionally modified, to say: “There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister on the head to help and advise the President who shall, within the train of his features, act in accordance with such recommendation.” The wording was not a contented one. Paradoxically, this provision was solely utilized when a number of Congress governments have been dismissed by the Janata Celebration authorities in 1977. President BD Jatti, who had been officiating after the demise of President FA Ahmed, dithered however lastly got here round. In 1978, the state of affairs was redeemed when Article 74 was amended (forty fourth Modification) once more so as to add a proviso, which says: “Supplied that the President could require the Council of Ministers to rethink such recommendation, both usually or in any other case, and the President shall act in accordance with such recommendation, tendered after such reconsideration.” This provision saved the Kalyan Singh ministry in Uttar Pradesh as President KR Narayanan returned the dismissal proposal to the United Entrance authorities for reconsideration in 1997. Nevertheless, the proposal by no means got here again, and Singh survived. Then again, President APJ Kalam accredited President’s Rule in Bihar, with out recourse to reconsideration, in 2005. Later, it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Courtroom.

Uttarakhand was a novel case: President’s Rule was imposed within the state in 2016 with none advice from the governor (this author was the incumbent). Within the Structure, there’s a provision for President’s Rule upon a report by the governor or “in any other case”. The Centre took this recourse in Uttarakhand. In one other uncommon first, President’s Rule was suspended for a couple of hours to revive the meeting briefly for a flooring check, performed not by the speaker or his deputy, however by a judicial officer. In The Presidential Years, President Pranab Mukherjee defined he didn’t ship the file again for reconsideration as he had an in depth dialogue with then finance minister, Arun Jaitley, and principal secretary to the PM, Nripendra Misra, on the problem. He additional mentions that he might have nonetheless despatched the file again, however it will have solely made headlines.

The Presidential Oath is in Article 60 of the Structure. The oath for the President and the governors is nearly related, however all different types of oath are completely different. The President swears to protect, defend and defend the Structure and the regulation, whereas others bear true religion and allegiance to the Structure. As is obvious, preserving, defending, and defending the Structure are indicative of proactive expectation. The distinction within the which means of the 2 oaths and their phrasing is big. The specifics and contours of Article 74 have undergone vital modifications since 1950, however the authentic format of the oath continues. The format of the presidential oath is extra suited to his function as within the authentic Article 74. When this matter was mentioned within the CA, Irish and US fashions have been thought-about. The phrases protect, defend, and defend the Structure are particular to the US presidential oath and adopted right here, although there’s a presidential type of democracy within the US. Be as it could, in its current kind, the oath signifies the President occupies the best and a novel place in our Structure.

KK Paul is a former Delhi Police commissioner, member of the UPSC and a former governor of Uttarakhand and 4 Northeastern states

The views expressed are private