President's experience, wisdom on trial

When a council of ministers is defeated in a vote of confidence in Parliament, it is the President who has to exercise his judgment and find a solution. He has to find out if another party or group of parties can form a stable government. In which event, he may call the leader of the party/ group of parties to be prime minister. If that option does not materialise, he may dissolve Parliament and call a fresh election.

Deve Gowda's resignation gives the President the discretion to act according to his wisdom under the Constitution. Though the Constitution has defined the President as a figurehead -- some unkind critics may say a rubber stamp -- in almost all matters, these are exceptional times where he has freedom in the choice and appointment of a person as prime minister.

What can the President do if a defeated prime minister like Deve Gowda recommends the dissolution of the Lok Sabha? Some jurists feel the President has no discretion to reject that advice and has to abide by the outgoing prime minister's counsel.

The 42nd amendment of the Constitution, passed during the Emergency era -- strangely, never revoked even by the Janata Party/National Front governments -- provides for the President to act according to the advice of the council of ministers. Under this amendment, the President may ask his ministers to reconsider such advice, but once it is reconsidered the President must act in accordance with the advice..

However, other legal experts believe a prime minister, who is defeated on the floor of the House, has no moral or constitutional authority to recommend the dissolution of the House. Such an action is without historical precedent. When his government fell in November 1990, Vishwanath Pratap Singh did not recommend the dissolution of Parliament.

In July 1979, Prime Minister Charan Singh advised President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy to dissolve the House even before he faced a vote of confidence. As did Chandra Shekhar in March 1991. In both cases, the government fell because the Congress withdrew support.

In the event of a prime minister being defeated on the floor of the House, some experts say the President must call the leader of the largest party or group in the House who he thinks can form a stable government.

In the event that no stable government can be formed, the President is constitutionally empowered to dissolve the House and call an election.

If the President chooses another prime minister, that individual will need to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha session of the House within a reasonable period of time. This has to be done on the floor of the House, thanks to the Supreme Court's 1994 judgment in S R Bommai vs Union of India. The President cannot go by lists of supporters or a parade of MPs as was done in July 1979.

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