The President is not a mere rubber stamp

Source: The post is based on the article “The President is not a mere rubber stamp” published in The Hindu on 14^th July 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary.

Relevance: Role of President.

News: Choosing the presidential candidate is an intensely political exercise. India is going to elect its new President on July 18. The new President will be sworn in on July 25.

About Constituent Assembly debates on the President

There was a great deal of debate in the Constituent Assembly on the President. The main question debated therein was whether India should have a directly elected President or an indirectly elected one. The Assembly opted for an indirectly elected President.

Professor K.T. Shah argued that an indirectly elected President will be a “sort of mere gramophone of the Prime Minister.” Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said “Our President is merely a nominal figurehead. He has no discretion; he has no powers of administration at all.”

What is the role of the President in Indian democracy?

The Constitution of India wants the President to be vigilant and responsive and gives the freedom to him or her to take a broader view of things uninfluenced by the narrow political view of the executive.

Not a rubber stamp: The population of the country is a crucial factor in the election of the President. This means the people’s presence in the process of electing the President is very much visible.

This also gives the President a greater moral authority. So, the Indian President is not and cannot be a mere rubber stamp.

Caution and counsel the cabinet: He does not directly exercise the executive authority of the Union, but he can disagree with the decision of the Council of Ministers, caution them, counsel them, and so on.

The President can ask the Cabinet to reconsider its decisions. However, if the cabinet sends the same proposal back without any change, the President will have to sign it.

For instance, There were Presidents such as Rajendra Prasad and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who openly differed with the government on certain policy issues and could exert tremendous influence on the government.

Not a gramophone of the Prime Minister: The oath of the President contains two solemn promises. First, the President shall preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. Second, the President shall devote himself or herself to the service and the well-being of the people of India. A President who makes the above promises under oath to the people cannot act as a gramophone of the PM.

Thus, it is possible for a President to disagree with the government or intervene on behalf of the citizenry against the tyranny of the executive and persuade it to give up its ways. Such persons alone can rise to the level of the President; others can only be presidential office holders. India needs Presidents, not presidential office holders.