WHETHER THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA IS MERELY A RUBBER STAMP? -A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Shakti Gayatri Panda, Advocate, Patna, Bihar

Best Citation – Shakti Gayatri Panda, Whether The President Of India Is Merely A Rubber Stamp? -A Critical Analysis, 2 ILECR 35, 2022.

ABSTRACT

After achieving independence, India adopted Westminster model of democracy which envisages existence of a real as well as a nominal head of the State. The real head denotes the Prime Minister of India while the President of India represents nominal and titular head of the State of India. The President is the first citizen of the nation, supreme commander of the defence force, executive head of the State. He acts as the symbol of unity, integrity and solidarity of the nation . The position of the President in the scheme of our Constitution is one of the highest honour, dignity and prestige. In spite of all these plumes, the office of President is often criticized as merely a rubber stamp. Along with this argument, a demand also cropped up for abolition of Presidential system from India. Present Hon’ble President Shri Ramnath Kovind is going to retire in July 2022. Hence, in this present scenario this topic seems quite relevant. In this article the author has critically analysed the contention of rubber stamp by considering various aspects of the President with regard to Constitution of India and tried to justify her version of contention with suitable examples.

Keywords: – President, rubber stamp, Article 53, Article 74, Prime Minister