THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA- QUALIFICATIONS , TERM OF OFFICE AND REMOVAL OF THE PRESIDENT

THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA

Part 5 of the Constitution of India deals with the office of the President of India. Article 52 of the Constitution states that there shall be a President of India. According to article 53, the executive power of the union shall be vested in the President. He shall exercise these powers directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the constitution of India.

Qualification:

Article 58 of the constitution lays down the qualifications that a candidate for the office of the President must possess;

1)         He must be a citizen of India,

2)         He must be above 35 years of age,

3)         He must possess all qualifications prescribed for the election as a member of the Lok Sabha.

4)         He must not hold any office of profit either under the central or the state governments,

5)         He should not be a member of any house of Union Parliament or State Legislature ( article 59 ).

Term of office of the President:

Article 56 of the constitution fixes the term of office of the President. The President shall hold office for a term of 5 years from the date on which he enters upon his office. He can contest for this office for any number of times when his term is over. The president shall continue in office even when his term is over until his successor enters upon his office. When both the offices of the president and the vice-president are vacant for any reason simultaneously, the chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India or in his absence, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court will act as the president of India. When the president submits his resignation to the vice-president, the latter must communicate it forthwith of the speaker of the Lok Sabha. The new president must be elected within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy.

Removal of the President:

The president may be remove from office by the process of impeachment for the violation of the constitution. The office of the president may be vacant for three reason; death, resignation, impeachment.

If the president is to be impeached for violation of the constitution, the charge may be preferred by either House of the Parliament. But before moving such a resolution, a notice of at least 14 days must be given in writing which should be signed by not less than ¼ of the total of membership of that House which wants to move the resolution. If after following this procedure, the House passes a resolution by a majority of not less than two-thirds of that total membership of the House, the matter will be referred to the other House which will investigate the charges when the other House investigates the charges, the president shall have the right to appear before the investigation committee either in person or through his lawyer. If in the investigation the charges against the president have been sustained, the House must have pass a resolution by a majority of not less than 2/3 of the total membership declaring that the charges against the president are found correct and the president will be considered to have been removed from his office from the date on which the resolution is passed.