Editing President of India (section)

== Impeachment ==
The Supreme Court shall inquire and decide regarding all ''doubts'' and ''disputes'' arising out of or in connection with the election of a president per [[s:Constitution of India/Part V|Article 71(1)]] of the constitution. The Supreme Court can remove the president for the electoral malpractices or upon being not eligible to be a member of the [[Lok Sabha]] under the [[Representation of the People Act, 1951]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lawmin.nic.in/legislative/election/volume%201/representation%20of%20the%20people%20act,%201951.pdf|title=Sections 7 & 8k, The representation of the people act,1951|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501024716/http://lawmin.nic.in/legislative/election/volume%201/representation%20of%20the%20people%20act,%201951.pdf|archive-date=1 May 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=2 July 2015}}</ref> Subject to Article 71 (3), parliament made applicable rules/procedure to petition the supreme court for resolving the ''disputes'' only that arise during the election process of the president but not the ''doubts'' that arise from their unconstitutional actions/deeds or changing Indian citizenship during the tenure of the president which may violate the requisite election qualifications.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/102305/|title=Sections 13 to 20, The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202021935/http://indiankanoon.org/doc/102305/|archive-date=2 February 2016|url-status=live|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>

The president may also be removed before the expiry of the term through [[impeachment]] for violating the [[Constitution of India]] by the [[Parliament]] of India. The process may start in either of the two houses of the [[Parliament of India|parliament]]. The house initiates the process by levelling the charges against the president. The charges are contained in a notice that has to be signed by at least one-quarter of the total members of that house. The notice is sent up to the president and 14 days later, it is taken up for consideration.

A resolution to impeach the president has to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the total number of members of the originating house. It is then sent to the other house. The other house investigates the charges that have been made. During this process, the president has the right to defend himself through an authorised [[counsel]]. If the second house also approves the charges made by the special majority again, the president stands impeached and is deemed to have vacated their office from the date when such a resolution stands passed. No president has faced impeachment proceedings so the above provisions have never been used.<ref name="Bhardwaj">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SBC05B0NnYIC&pg=SL1-PA238|title=Study Package For CLAT and LL.B Entrance Examinations|last=Bhardwaj|first=A.P.|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education (India)|isbn=978-0-07-107468-1|pages=238–239|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603232129/https://books.google.com/books?id=SBC05B0NnYIC&pg=SL1-PA238|archive-date=3 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Under [[s:Constitution of India/Part XIX|Article 361]] of the constitution, though the president cannot be summoned for questioning except on their voluntary willingness to testify in the court in support of their controversial deeds, the unconstitutional decisions taken by the president would be declared invalid by the courts. The case would be decided by the courts based on the facts furnished by the Union government for the president's role. As clarified by the supreme court in the case ''Rameshwar Prasad & Others vs Union of India & An Other'' on 24 January 2006; though the president cannot be prosecuted and imprisoned during their term of office, they can be prosecuted after he/she steps down from the post for any guilt committed during the term of the presidency as declared earlier by the courts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1885130/|title=Rameshwar Prasad And Ors vs Union Of India And Anr on 24 January, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016074238/http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1885130/|archive-date=16 October 2010|url-status=live|access-date=2 July 2015}}</ref> No president has resigned on impropriety to continue in office for declaring and nullifying their unconstitutional decisions by the courts till now. No criminal case at least on the grounds of [[Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971|disrespecting constitution]] is lodged till now against former presidents to punish them for their unconstitutional acts; though many decisions taken during the term of a president have been declared by the supreme court as unconstitutional, ''[[mala fides]]'', void, ''[[ultra vires]]'', etc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.bih.nic.in/Acts_Rule/Prevention_Insults_National_Honour_Act1971.pdf|title=The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act of 1971|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912020948/http://home.bih.nic.in/Acts_Rule/Prevention_Insults_National_Honour_Act1971.pdf|archive-date=12 September 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=2 July 2015}}</ref>

{{Presidential orders of succession}}