President Assent Amendment Bill
When a Constitutional Amendment Bill passes both Houses, the President must grant assent. The 24th Amendment Act of 1971 removed the President's power to withhold assent or return such bills for reconsideration.
Primary Reference: Standard Educational Reference
Target: UPSC Civil Services Examination
Updated:
Difficulty
Easy
Skill Tested
Factual Recall
Evaluate the constitutional options available to the President upon receiving a duly passed Constitutional Amendment Bill:
1. The President may exercise an absolute veto by permanently withholding assent from the bill.
2. The President may deploy a suspensive veto, returning the bill to Parliament for reconsideration exactly once.
3. The President is constitutionally bound to grant assent, possessing no authority to return or withhold.
Detailed Solution & Context
Analyze the following Assertion and Reason regarding executive vetoes:
1. Assertion (A): If the President fundamentally disagrees with a Constitutional Amendment Bill, they are legally powerless to block its enactment once passed by Parliament.
2. Reason (R): The 24th Constitutional Amendment Act explicitly stripped the President of the authority to either withhold assent or return amendment bills for parliamentary reconsideration.
Detailed Solution & Context
A Constitutional Amendment Bill seeking to drastically reduce the retirement age of Supreme Court judges clears both Houses of Parliament with a Special Majority. It reaches the President. The President believes this violates judicial independence. Seeking to stop the bill, the President considers three options: (1) withholding assent entirely, (2) returning it to Parliament for reconsideration, or (3) referring it to the Supreme Court. Which of these options can the President constitutionally execute?
1. Option 1, as the President can exercise an absolute veto.
2. Option 2, as the President can use a suspensive veto.
3. Option 3, as the President can refer any bill to the Supreme Court to check its constitutionality.
4. None of the options; the President must grant assent.
Detailed Solution & Context
How many of the following executive actions can the President legally undertake when presented with a Constitutional Amendment Bill?
1. Withhold assent to exercise an absolute veto.
2. Return the bill to Parliament for reconsideration.
3. Refer the bill to the Supreme Court to determine its constitutional validity prior to enactment.
Detailed Solution & Context
🚨 The Examiner's Trap
Since the President CAN return or withhold assent on Ordinary Bills, examiners use those exact powers as distractors to test if the candidate knows the strict exception for Amendment Bills.
⚡ Quick Revision
Concept Flow Mapping
Logic Quest
"Can the President utilize a suspensive veto to return a Constitutional Amendment Bill to Parliament?"
Topic Clusters