President of India

A number of questions from Indian Polity are asked in almost every government exam. Thus, this study material will boost your preparation level and help in fetching good score in government exams like SSC, Railways, Defence, IBPS, etc.

The post of President of India as the nominal head is similar to that of Queen in Britain. While the method of election of President in India is a borrowed feature from Ireland’s Constitution. The President is the most prestigious post in India’s democratic and constitutional system.

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Appointment

The election of the President in India is described in Article 54 of the Constitution. The President of India is elected indirectly through the single transferable vote system.

Tenure

According to Article 56, Part V of the Constitution of India, the President can continue in office for a term of five years. He is eligible for re-election. He can contest elections for the post no matter how many times.

Impeachment

The President can be removed from office through impeachment before 5 years. It is described in Article 61.

The President of India can be removed only for violation of the Constitution, but the Constitution does not define the meaning of violation of the Constitution.
Impeachment against the President can be initiated in any House of Parliament. Its resolution requires the signature of one-fourth of members of Parliament. Also, 14 days advance notice is required for this.
If the resolution is passed by two-third majority of the Parliament, the President has to resign.

Powers and Functions

The following powers have been conferred on the President by the Indian Constitution:

1. Administrative- Under Article 77, the work of various ministries and departments of the government is done in the name of the President. The President appoints the Chief Justice of India and other judges of Supreme Court, CAG, Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners, Attorney General of India, Governor, Finance Commission, etc.

2. Military - The President is the head of all the three armies.

3. Political - The President leads the relationship with various countries.

4. Legislative - The President convenes the session of Parliament, addresses Parliament from time to time, keeps various reports on the table of Parliament, approves various Bills, nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha, etc.

5. Judicial- The Constitution empowers the President to promulgate ordinances under Article 123. Also, Article 72 describes the presidential pardoning powers i.e. pardon, reprieve, respite, remission, commutation.

6. Emergency- The President can declare emergency under Article 352 (National Emergency), Article 356 (State Emergency/President’s rule) and Article 360 (Financial Emergency).

The given below table contains the name of current and former Indian Presidents.

S No	Name	Tenure
1	Dr. Rajendra Prasad	26 January, 1950 to 13 May, 1962
2	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	13 May, 1962 to 13 May, 1967
3	Dr. Zakir Husain	13 May, 1967 to 3 May, 1969
4	Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri	3 May, 1969 to 20 July, 1969 and 24 August, 1969 to 24 August, 1974
5	Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	24 August, 1974 to 11 February, 1977
6	Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	25 July, 1977 to 25 July, 1982
7	Giani Zail Singh	25 July, 1982 to 25 July, 1987
8	Shri R Venkataraman	25 July, 1987 to 25 July, 1992
9	Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma	25 July, 1992 to 25 July, 1997
10	Shri K. R. Narayanan	25 July, 1997 to 25 July, 2002
11	DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam	25 July, 2002 to 25 July, 2007
12	Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil	25 July, 2007 to 25 July, 2012
13	Shri Pranab Mukherjee	25 July, 2012 to 25 July, 2017
14	Shri Ram Nath Kovind	25 July, 2017-24 July, 2022
15	Droupadi Murmu	25 July, 2022-Till present