 The President of India in the realm of the Indian political establishment is the Head of the State and also happens to be the first citizen of India. Apart from this he/she is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. This highly venerated position in the Indian context has considerable power and importance. But in practice it has been observed time and again that by virtue of the Constitutional obligations the power of the Hon'ble President is confined to a large extent and is comparable to those of a constitutional monarch. To some schools of thought the new-fangled position of President has replaced the British Monarch, represented by the Governor-General during the British Raj. With some glorious exceptions in most of the cases the authority vested in the President is practiced by the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister in real terms.
The election of the Presidential candidate is performed by the elected members of the Parliament of India (both houses) along with the members of the state legislatures for a stipulated time of five years. Any citizen of India who is either 35 years of age or above is eligible to be the Presidential candidate. But there happens to be a condition that the Presidential candidate should be qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha (lower house) and also should not hold any office of profit under the government. In respect of the authority of President it is clearly stated in the Constitution of India that, "There shall be a President of India." In addition, the Article 53 (1) vests in the President the executive powers of the Union which are exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution. During the appointment of the Prime Minister he/she becomes the key person and it is with the advice of the new Prime Minister the President appoints the Council of Ministers to be followed by the distribution of portfolios. In respect of Judicial Powers he/she appoints the Chief Justice of the Union Judiciary and other judges on the advice of the Chief Justice. In practice, these Judges are in actual terms selected by the Union cabinet. Moreover, in respect of Legislative Powers the President summons both houses of the Parliament and also prorogues them. They have the potential to even dissolve the Lok Sabha. These powers are in general, conventional and formal. These are used by the President according to the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minster. He/she is also entitled to impose three types of emergency powers. They include National Emergency, State Emergency and Financial Emergency.
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THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA
