Vice Presidents hold the second-highest office in a country after the president, making their position notable and worthy of discussion. As a result of the Indian Constitution framers adopting the concept of a Vice President and President from the Americans, they outlined the position of a Vice President under Article 63. As the first holder, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan as the President of India served for ten years (May 13, 1952-May 12, 1962) and Vice President position occupied by Jagdeep Dhankhar, the 14th Vice President of independent India (as of 11th August 2017), continues to serve
in this capacity.
As a result of reading this article, the reader will gain valuable knowledge about the Vice President of India, including the process of election, the term of office, the powers, functions, and qualifications.
The President of India
As head of state, the President of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. Besides being head of the executive, legislature and judiciary, the President is also commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
With few exceptions, all of the executive authority vested in the President is, in practice, exercised by the Council of Ministers (CoM), despite Article 53 of the Indian Constitution stating that the President may exercise his or her powers directly or by subordinate authority.
Qualifications that the Vice President must abide by
To qualify for the position of Vice President of independent India, the Indian Constitution specifies three prerequisites:
The position holder should be an Indian citizen
Minimum age requirement is of thirty-five years
The member should be qualified to get elected in the Rajya Sabha, the Council of States in Parliament
Further, Article 66(2) stipulates that the Vice President shall not be a member of either Parliament Houses or State Legislatures at the time when he is holding the office of Vice President
As a candidate for the Vice President’s position, a sitting President or Vice President of the Union, followed by a Governor of a state or a Union Minister or State Minister, who does not hold any profitable position, will qualify. Candidate for the position of Vice President of India must deposit Rs 15,000 in the Reserve Bank of India. As a result, the two requirements for holding the position of Vice President are as follows:
Vice-Presidents are not allowed to be members of either House of Parliament or State Legislature at the time of their appointment.
There should be no other offices that yield profits for an individual.
Powers of President in India
In all cases where the punishment for the crime is by a Court Martial, the President may grant pardons, reprieves, respites, or remissions of punishment or suspend, remit, or commute the sentence of any person convicted.
A punishment or sentence imposed for a violation of a law that falls within the executive authority of the Union;
All death sentences fall under this category.
A Court martial sentence may be suspended, remitted, or commuted by any officer of the Armed Forces of the Union as permitted by law.
There shall be no effect on the power of the Governor of a State to suspend, remit, or commute a sentence of death under any law then in force.
For a period of six months only, the Vice President will act as the President of India if there are any circumstances of death, removal, resignation, or other reasons leading to vacating the office of the President. Within this period, a new President must be elected.