Oath by the President in terms of Art-60 includes to preserve, protect & defend Constitution & the law

– As protector of Constitution President of India is above any Religion/Sect/Party/Vote bank considerations
– Vested with executive power of Union President also holds Supreme command of Defence Forces

DAYA SAGAR

18th July 2022 is day when the people of India will be electing in a regular democratic manner for the 16th time a new President of the republic through indirect election in this largest parliamentary democracy of the world. This time the presidential election has a special node. There are two candidates in the contest and both the candidates have declared that they would be visiting all States / UTs and contacting the MLAs & MPs for seeking their support irrespective of any the political alliance/ political party/ ideology.No doubt in a democratic republic like India the role and status of the President of India has to be very intimately, & selflessly and rising above all personal /political /communal/ sectoral interests realised by every Indian citizen, particularly by those filing their application for contest, those who support the nomination of a candidate and above all by all the members of the electoral college i.e members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and legislative Assemblies of States & UTs.
So far after 1950 only Shri Dr. Rajendra Prasad (INC) has been elected President of India two times and Shri. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (INC) has remained Vice President for two times. Where as there have been only 6 Vice Presidents i.eShri.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (INC)13 May 1962 13 May 1967, Shri. Dr. Zakir Hussian (Ind) 13 May 1967 3 May 1969, Shri V. V. Giri (Ind) 24 August 1969 24 August 1974, Shri Ramaswamy Venkataraman 25 July 1987 25 July 1992 , Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma INC 25 July 1992 25 July to 1997 and Shri K. R. Narayanan INC 25 July 1997 25 July 2002 who were also decorated as 1st citizen of India (elected as President) after having remained as elected Vice President sponsored by the ruling parties in the parliament. Presently Shri Ram Nath Kovind ( BJP) since 25 July 2017 is the President and Shri Venkaiah Naidu ( who has been a very senior leader of BJP and has also remained President of BJP ) is the Vice President of India and this time BJP/NDA has taken on Shrimati Draupadi Murmufor election as President of India and not the present VP Shri Venkaiah Naidu . Shri Yashwant Sinha an ex BJP leader / Ex. Minister in NDA-I government has filed nomination as independent candidate with the support of other political parties.
Constitution of India was finally passed and adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26,1949 for coming into effect on 26 January 1950 ( that India celebrates as republic day) and in the last session of the constituent assembly it was on January 24, 1950 that unanimously Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of India by members of Constituent Assembly of India.
Of course constitutionally the office of the President of India is free from any type of political whips and election is held by a secret ballot still going by the conventions that have become prevalent the processes have been reflecting some what of political inclinations/preferences like direct or indirect use of even community affiliations for promoting a candidate / seeking support .
The elders who prepared the first draft of the Constitution of India had first secured the services of Sir Benegal Narsing Rao ICS {Sir Benegal Narsing Rau, was an Indian civil servant, jurist, diplomat and statesman who was active in the pre-independent India. He was rated as one of the foremost Indian jurists in the 20th century. Heis said to have played a key role in drafting the Constitution of India and also the Constitution of Myanmar / Burma). For a brief period he is said to have served as the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir state -1944/1945.} as advisor who in a way prepared the framework after having intimate view of different democracies / governments of various countries including UK, USA, France, etc ( to great extent contents of Government of India Act 1935 were also used as a working template ) where in the final draft that was approved and adopted after intimate discussions/ debates although had given India a parliamentary system of governance but had also kept some checks and balances over the elected government in the form of the office of the President of India in terms of Article-53 of Constitution of India laying down that (1) the executive power of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution. (2)Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the supreme command of the Defence Forces of the Union shall be vested in the President and the exercise thereof shall be regulated by law. No doubt Article 53(3b) also says “Nothing in this article shall- (b) prevent Parliament from conferring by law functions on authorities other than the President.
The other important feature to understand the ‘soul’ made to rest in the 1st Citizen of India is the Oath of Affirmation <The of Oath or affirmation by the President in terms of Art-60 of Constitution of India has enshrined in it the spirits that make the office & person of the first citizen of India very veryspecial where it says .-I, A.B., do swear in the name of God that I will faithfully execute the office of President (or discharge the functions of the President) of India and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law and that I will devote myself to the service and well-being of the people of India.”. Where as the Oath that a Prime Minister (elected by Lok Sabha members) takes says : “I, (name), do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the Union and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. “I, (name) do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as a Minister for the Union except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as such Minister.” And form of oath or affirmation to be made by the Judges of the Supreme Court and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India as in schedule -III to COI say :- “I, A.B., having been appointed Chief Justice (or a Judge) of the Supreme Court of India (or Comptroller and Auditor-General of India) do swear in the name of God that I will bear true . solemnly affirm faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India,that I will duly and faithfully and to the best of my ability, knowledge and judgment perform the duties of my office without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and that I will uphold the Constitution and the laws.”So as protector of Constitution a President of India has to be above any caste/ religion/party/sect/ section/ vote bank considerations.
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(Daya Sagar, Sr Journalist, social activist and analyst J&K affairs [email protected] 09419796096).