Electing and removing the President

Detail

1. Who elects the President: the electoral college (Art. 54)

• Indirect election: the people do not vote for the President directly. Their elected representatives vote instead. NCERT (Class 11) describes this as indirect election by MPs and MLAs.
• Electoral college (the fixed group of people who have the right to vote in this election) has three parts [4][2]:
• Elected members of both Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha).
• Elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the states.

• Elected members of the assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry. The 70th Amendment (1992) added these two through an Explanation to Art. 54.

• Who cannot vote:

• Nominated members of either House. This includes the 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha [2].

• Members of Legislative Councils (the upper Houses in some states) [2].

• Jammu and Kashmir:

• J&K's assembly had been dissolved before the 2022 election and had not been formed again. So its 87 MLAs did not vote in 2022 [2].

• The Explanation to Art. 54 names only Delhi and Puducherry. It does not name the assembly of the Union Territory of J&K. Whether that assembly will vote in the next election is still an open question.

• 2022 size: 4,033 MLAs and 776 elected MPs could vote in the 16th Presidential Election (2022) [2].

2. Value of votes (Art. 55)

• Why votes have different values: Art. 55 has two aims.
• Uniformity among states: a vote should stand for roughly the same number of people in every state.

• Parity between the states and the Union: all MLAs together carry the same total weight as all MPs together.

• MLA vote = (population of the state in 1971 ÷ number of elected MLAs) ÷ 1,000.

• 1971 freeze: the 84th Amendment (2001) keeps the 1971 population as the base until the first census taken after 2026.

• MP vote = total value of all MLAs' votes ÷ number of elected MPs.

Item (Presidential Election)	Value
MP vote, 2017	708
MP vote, 2022	700. It fell because J&K had no assembly.
UP MLA vote, 2022	208 (the highest)
Sikkim MLA vote, 2022	7 (the lowest)
Total value of all MLAs' votes, 2022	5,43,231 [2]
Total value of all MPs' votes, 2022	5,43,200 [2]
Total value of the whole electoral college, 2022	10,86,431 [2]
J&K MLA votes left out, 2022	6,264 (87 MLAs) [2]

3. Method of voting: proportional representation by single transferable vote

• Proportional representation by single transferable vote (STV): each voter has one vote but ranks the candidates (1, 2, 3 …). If the voter's first choice cannot use the vote, it moves to the next choice. Art. 55(3) lays down this method.
• Secret ballot: nobody can see how a person voted.
• Quota (the number of votes needed to win) = half of the valid votes + 1.

• 2022 quota: (5,43,231 + 5,43,200 + 1) ÷ 2 = 5,43,216 [2].

• How counting works [2]:

• Round 1: first-preference votes are counted.
• If nobody reaches the quota: the candidate with the fewest votes is removed. That candidate's ballots go to the second preferences marked on them.

• This repeats until someone reaches the quota.

• Only one second round so far: V.V. Giri's election (1969, the 5th Presidential Election) is the only time no candidate reached the quota in the first round [2].

4. Who can stand: qualifications (Art. 58) and nomination

• Qualifications (Art. 58):
• Must be a citizen of India.
• Must be at least 35 years old.
• Must be qualified to be a member of the Lok Sabha.

• Must not hold an office of profit (a paid post under the Union, a state or a local authority controlled by them).

• Exceptions to "office of profit": the posts of President, Vice-President, Governor and Union or state minister do not count as offices of profit.

• Nomination rules: these come from the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, as amended in 1997.
• The candidate needs 50 proposers and 50 seconders from the electoral college [2].
• The candidate must pay a security deposit of ₹15,000 [2].
• Purpose: to keep out candidates who are not serious.

5. Conditions of office, oath and term (Arts. 56, 57, 59, 60, 62)

• Conditions (Art. 59):
• The President cannot be a member of Parliament or of any state legislature. If a legislator is elected President, that seat falls vacant on the day they take office.
• The President cannot hold any other office of profit.

• The President's emoluments (pay and allowances) are fixed by Parliament by law. They cannot be reduced during the President's term.

• Oath (Art. 60): taken before the Chief Justice of India. If the Chief Justice is absent, it is taken before the senior-most Supreme Court judge. The President swears to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution".

• Term (Art. 56):
• Five years from the day of taking office.
• The President may resign by writing to the Vice-President.

• The President holds office until a successor takes over, even after the five years end.

• Re-election (Art. 57): allowed. Rajendra Prasad is the only President to have served two terms (1952 and 1957).

• Filling the post (Art. 62):
• When the term ends: the election must be finished before the term expires.
• Vacancy for any other reason (death, resignation, removal): the election must be held within six months.
• The new President gets a full five-year term. They do not just serve out the rest of the old term.

6. Election disputes (Art. 71)

• Election dispute: a legal challenge saying the election was invalid.
• Only the Supreme Court can decide disputes about the election of the President or the Vice-President.
• If the election is declared void, the acts done by that President before the judgment remain valid.
• Parliament makes the detailed rules by law. This is done through the 1952 Act.
• 11th Amendment (1961): a vacancy in the electoral college cannot be used to challenge the election. Example: a dissolved state assembly, like J&K in 2022.

7. Impeachment (Art. 61): the only way to remove a President

• Impeachment: a special process in which Parliament tries and removes a President.
• Ground: only "violation of the Constitution". The Constitution does not define this phrase.
• Steps:

Step	What happens	Requirement
1. Notice	Members give written notice that they plan to move a resolution with the charge	Signed by at least one-fourth of the total members of that House; at least 14 days' notice [3]
2. Charge passed	The House that started the process (either House) votes on the resolution	Two-thirds of the total membership of that House [3]
3. Investigation	The other House investigates the charge, or has it investigated	The President may appear in person or be represented [3]
4. Removal	The investigating House passes a resolution saying the charge is proved	Two-thirds of its total membership. The President is removed from the date the resolution passes [3]

• Who votes in what:

Member	Votes in the election?	Votes in impeachment?
Elected MPs	Yes	Yes
Nominated MPs	No	Yes
Elected MLAs (including Delhi and Puducherry)	Yes	No
Members of Legislative Councils	No	No

• Never used: no President of India has ever been impeached.

8. Immunity of the President and Governors (Art. 361)

• Immunity: legal protection from being taken to court.
• Official acts: no court can make the President or a Governor answer for anything done, or meant to be done, in carrying out the duties of the office.
• Criminal cases: no criminal case can be started or continued against them during their term.
• Arrest: no court can order their arrest or imprisonment during their term.
• Civil suits for personal acts: allowed only after two months' written notice.
• Rameshwar Prasad v. Union of India (2006):
• The personal immunity is complete. The President or Governor cannot be made to answer in court, even when bad faith is alleged.

• Their actions can still be reviewed, including for mala fides (bad faith). The Union or the state government must defend the action in court [5].

• November 2025 advisory opinion (Special Reference No. 1 of 2025, on assent to Bills):

• The Supreme Court restated the Rameshwar Prasad position [5].
• Art. 361 is an absolute bar on personally subjecting the Governor to court proceedings [5].

• But the office of the Governor is still subject to the Court's jurisdiction. For long, unexplained inaction on Bills under Art. 200, the Court can issue a limited mandamus (an order to act within a reasonable time, without judging the merits of the decision) [5].

• Governors share this immunity (see state-government-governor).

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 54 / 70th Amendment (1992): the elected MLAs of Delhi and Puducherry vote in the Presidential election. Nominated MPs and members of Legislative Councils do not.
• 84th Amendment (2001): the 1971 population stays the base for vote values until the first census after 2026.
• Value of an MP's vote: 708 in 2017 and 700 in 2022. It fell because J&K had no assembly. UP MLA = 208 and Sikkim MLA = 7 (2022).
• 2022 quota: 5,43,216 out of a total electoral-college value of 10,86,431 [2]. Only V.V. Giri (1969) needed a second round of counting [2].
• Nomination: 50 proposers + 50 seconders + ₹15,000 deposit (1952 Act, amended 1997).
• Trap: the President resigns to the Vice-President, not to the Chief Justice or the Speaker. The oath is taken before the Chief Justice of India.
• Trap: a President elected after a mid-term vacancy gets a full five-year term (Art. 62), not the rest of the old term.
• Art. 71 + 11th Amendment (1961): disputes go only to the Supreme Court. A vacancy in the electoral college is no ground for challenge.
• Art. 61: "violation of the Constitution" is the only ground. Notice needs one-fourth of members and 14 days. Each House must pass it by two-thirds of its total membership. Nominated MPs take part.
• Rameshwar Prasad (2006): the President's or Governor's personal immunity under Art. 361 is complete, but their actions can still be reviewed for mala fides [5].

Mains Points

• Why the election is indirect:
• The President is the nominal head and acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
• A direct election would give the President a popular mandate that could compete with the Prime Minister's.

• Using an electoral college of MPs and MLAs, with weighted votes (Art. 55), makes the President a national choice. It also gives the states a voice, which reflects federalism.

• Fairness of vote values:

• The 1971 freeze (84th Amendment): states that controlled their population growth are not penalised. But today's population differences are not reflected.
• After the first census following 2026: vote values will shift towards the more populous states. This links to the wider debate on delimitation and North–South balance.

• J&K in 2022: its exclusion lowered the value of an MP's vote from 708 to 700 [2]. The 11th Amendment shields the result from challenge, but it raises a question of representation.

• Impeachment as a check:

• Undefined ground: "violation of the Constitution" is not defined, so the process could be used for political ends.
• High bar: the two-thirds total-membership requirement in both Houses makes misuse hard.

• Unequal roles: nominated MPs vote in impeachment but not in the election. MLAs vote in the election but not in impeachment. Critics say this is inconsistent. Defenders say impeachment is a judicial-style trial that belongs to Parliament.

• Immunity vs accountability (Art. 361):

• Rameshwar Prasad (2006): separates the person, who is fully immune, from the act, which courts can review [5].
• November 2025 opinion: applies the same idea to Governors' inaction on Bills [5].
• Result: the dignity of the office is protected, but the act still has to stand up in court.