Emergency Powers

In addition to the normal powers mentioned above, the Constitution confers extraordinary powers on the President to deal with the

following three types of emergencies9 :

(a) National Emergency (Article 352);

(b) President’s Rule (Article 356 & 365); and

(c) Financial Emergency (Article 360)

A bill passed by the Parliament can become an act only if it receives the assent of the President. When such a bill is presented to the President for his assent, he has three alternatives (under Article 111 of the Constitution):

1. He may give his assent to the bill, or

2. He may withhold his assent to the bill, or

3. He may return the bill (if it is not a Money bill) for reconsideration of the Parliament. However, if the bill is passed again by the Parliament with or without amendments and again presented to the President, the President must give his assent to the bill.

Thus, the President has the veto power over the bills passed by the Parliament10 , that is, he can withhold his assent to the bills. The object of conferring this power on the President is two-fold-(a) to prevent hasty and ill-considered legislation by the Parliament; and (b) to prevent a legislation which may be unconstitutional.

The veto power enjoyed by the executive in modern states can be classified into the following four types:

1. Absolute veto, that is, withholding of assent to the bill passed by the legislature.

2. Qualified veto, which can be overridden by the legislature with a higher majority.

3. Suspensive veto, which can be overridden by the legislature with an ordinary majority.

4. Pocket veto, that is, taking no action on the bill passed by the legislature.

Of the above four, the President of India is vested with three- absolute veto, suspensive veto and pocket veto. There is no qualified veto in the case of Indian President; it is possessed by the American President. The three vetos of the President of India are explained below: