Discuss the constitutional basis and conventions governing the appointment, tenure, and removal of Union Ministers in India.

Q. Discuss the constitutional basis and conventions governing the appointment, tenure, and removal of Union Ministers in India. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Article 75 of the Constitution is the sole textual anchor for the Union Council of Ministers, yet its brevity is deliberate: it vests formal authority in the President while leaving the substance to be filled in by conventions of responsible parliamentary government inherited from Britain [2].

Appointment: text and convention - Article 75(1) — the Prime Minister is appointed by the President, and other Ministers are appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister; the President exercises no independent choice [2]. - Article 75(1A), inserted by the 91st Amendment Act, 2003, caps the Council of Ministers at 15% of Lok Sabha strength, curbing oversized ministries [2]. - Article 75(4) requires oaths of office and secrecy in the Third Schedule form; Article 75(5) requires a non-member to secure a seat in Parliament within six months [2]. - By convention, the President invites the leader commanding a majority; the PM balances region, community and coalition claims, and portfolios are distributed under the Allocation of Business Rules, 1961 framed under Article 77(3) [3].

Tenure: pleasure, tempered by responsibility - Article 75(2) — Ministers hold office "during the pleasure of the President", but that pleasure is exercised only as the PM advises [1]. - Article 75(3) makes the Council collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha; individual ministerial responsibility remains a convention, not a written rule. - Continuity of administration is preserved by the convention of "additional charge" — in July 2026 the Education portfolio was assigned to an existing Cabinet Minister rather than left vacant [1].

Removal and resignation - Resignations are accepted by the President on the PM's advice, formally recorded through a Press Communique invoking Article 75(2) [1]. - Conventionally, the PM may seek a Minister's resignation; loss of a confidence motion or Tenth Schedule disqualification compels exit [2].

Thus, India's ministerial system works through a settled partnership between constitutional form and democratic convention. Strengthening conventions of individual accountability and transparent portfolio allocation would further align executive practice with the accountability that Article 75(3) envisages.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. Press Communique, President's Secretariat, PIB (PRID 2289455), 25 July 2026 — acceptance of a Union Minister's resignation under Article 75(2) on the PM's advice; assignment of additional charge of the Ministry of Education 2. The Constitution of India, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice — Article 75(1), 75(1A), 75(2)–(5); 91st Amendment; Tenth Schedule 3. Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, Cabinet Secretariat — allocation of portfolios among Ministries under Article 77(3)