No data available on President Kovind returning any Union Cabinet decision: RTI response
- April 23, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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No data available on President Kovind returning any Union Cabinet decision: RTI response
Subject: Polity
Sec: Executive
Context:
- A college student from Chennai filed a Right to Information (RTI) query asking about instances when former President Ram Nath Kovind returned decisions from the Union Council of Ministers and other governmental bodies for reconsideration.
- Rashtrapati Bhavan, through the President’s Secretariat, responded stating that there is no available information on any such instances involving former President Kovind.
Details:
- Dissatisfied with the initial response, the student, Yuvan Mithran, appealed, questioning if the absence of information implied that no decisions were ever returned or if the data simply was not recorded.
- The Officer on Special Duty/First Appellate Authority (FAA) at Rashtrapati Bhavan upheld the initial reply, confirming no information was held by the Secretariat on the matter.
Lack of Information:
- Rashtrapati Bhavan’s response to an RTI query revealed that there is no record of instances where former President Ram Nath Kovind returned decisions from the Union Council of Ministers for reconsideration.
- This absence of information was highlighted as surprising and problematic by Mr. Raj Kapil, a criminology professor.
Accountability Concerns:
- Mr. Kapil criticized the lack of transparency and accountability, suggesting that the former President’s use of the Suspensive Veto was not documented or reported adequately. This raised broader questions about the openness of the President’s Secretariat.
Key Presidential Decisions:
- During his tenure, President Kovind made significant decisions including assenting to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Triple Talaq Bill, amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019, the Citizenship Amendment Bill, and three Farm Bills.
The Veto Power of the President:
- Article 111 states that a bill of Parliament can only become an Act when the President gives his assent to that particular bill, so, when the Indian parliament passes bills, the bill is then sent to the President for his assent.
- For any bill passed by the Parliament and sent to the president for his assent, the President can choose to take one of the following actions,
- The President may give his assent to the bill passed by the Parliament,
- The President may not give his assent or withhold the bill passed by the Parliament,
- The President may return the bill to the parliament for reconsideration of the Parliament.
- The President’s power to withhold or not give his assent to a parliament bill is called the veto power of the president of India.
- The President performs his veto power by his conscience; however, two scenarios can be given when the president exercises his veto power,
- If President realises an ill consideration by the parliament in the passage of the bill, and
- The President found it necessary to withhold a bill to prevent non-constitutional legislation.
- The President of India enjoys veto powers like an absolute veto, suspensive veto, and pocket veto.
- Absolute Veto
- The Absolute Veto gives power to the President to completely deny a bill of parliament; in this case, the bill is dropped, and it doesn’t become an act.
- However, the President can use Absolute Veto in the following conditions,
- If a Private Member of the Parliament presented the bill.
- If the outgoing government passes the bill (passed before the resignation but resigned before the President’s assent) and the new government advises the President not to give his assent.
- Suspensive Veto
- When the President sends the bill back to the parliament for reconsideration, this veto power is called the suspensive veto power of the president of India.
- However, there are certain limitations to the suspensive veto power of the President of India,
- The President of India cannot use Suspensive Veto over money bills, as the money bills are passed with his/her prior recommendation.
- If the President sends a bill for reconsideration of the Parliament, and parliament again passes the bill without making any changes to it. In that case, the President is required to give his assent to such a bill.
- Pocket Veto
- When the President decides to not decide on a bill of the Parliament, this veto power of the president of India is called the pocket veto power of the President. The President neither gives his assent nor withholds the bills; instead, he chose not to take any action on the bill.
- The constitution of India doesn’t prescribe any time limit for the exercise of pocket veto by the President of India. In this regard, the Indian constitution gives a wider pocket veto to the President than any other constitutional democracy; for example, the President of the United States can only exercise pocket veto for ten days.
Source: TH