Article 61: Procedure for Impeachment of the President

Since 1950, no Indian President has ever faced impeachment. Article 61 is the reason it is so rare. The bar is set almost impossibly high, on purpose. Understand that bar, and you understand the article: a one-fourth notice, then a two-thirds vote, twice over.

1Chapter 1: The Ground and the Process

Must Know

The text

• Article 61 sits in Part V. It lays out the only procedure to impeach a sitting President.
• The sole ground is “violation of the Constitution”. The Constitution itself never defines the phrase.
• The charge can be started in either House: Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.
• Impeachment is the only way to remove a President mid-term. So the bar is set deliberately high.

Step by step

1. Notice: a notice signed by at least one-fourth of that House’s total membership, given at least fourteen days before the resolution is moved.
2. Charge: the resolution preferring the charge must pass by at least two-thirds of that House’s total membership.
3. Investigation: the other House investigates the charge, or has it investigated. The President may appear and be represented.
4. Sustaining the charge: if that House also passes a resolution by two-thirds of its total membership declaring the charge sustained, the President is removed from the date of that resolution.

2Chapter 2: Why the Bar Is So High

Good to Know

• Removing a head of state should need wide agreement, not a narrow party majority.
• The vote is of total membership, not members present and voting. Empty seats and absentees count against the motion.
• This is stricter than most constitutional amendments, which need two-thirds of members present and voting.
• Two such votes are needed, one in each House.
• So removal needs two-thirds twice over: once to charge, once to sustain.
• The high bar deters frivolous or purely political attempts.
• It signals that removing a President is an extraordinary last resort.
• Because no President has ever been impeached, Article 61 rarely makes headlines. But the rules matter for constitutional theory.

The 1948 draft versus the 1950 text

• The Draft Constitution of 1948 needed notice signed by only thirty members.
• The final 1950 text raised this to one-fourth of total membership, with a mandatory fourteen-day notice.
• The framers deliberately made impeachment harder before the Constitution took effect.
• The jump from thirty signatures to one-fourth shows how seriously they took protecting the head of state.

3Chapter 3: Who Votes

Good to Know

• Only Parliament votes on impeachment. State Legislative Assembly members play no role.
• The President’s election under Article 54 uses an electoral college that includes elected State Assembly members.
• Impeachment under Article 61 is the reverse. Parliament only.
• Nominated members of Parliament take part in impeachment. They do not vote in the election.
• Unlike a Money Bill, which must start in the Lok Sabha, an impeachment charge can start in either House.
• Remember the pair: Article 54 elects, Article 61 removes.
• Read more: Election of the President and The President of India.

Why “quasi-judicial”?

• The investigating House works almost like a court.
• The President can appear and be represented.
• Because the process decides a grave charge against the head of state, it mimics judicial procedure.
• So impeachment is part political, part judicial.
• Think of the investigating House as a jury. It weighs the charge, after giving the President a hearing.
• For judges, see The Judge Impeachment Process.

4Chapter 4: Traps Examiners Set

Great to Know

• Lok Sabha exclusive? A common option says impeaching the President is a Lok Sabha power. It is not.
• Resignation: the President resigns by writing to the Vice-President (Article 56). Not to the Speaker or the Chief Justice.
• CAG removal: the CAG is removed like a Supreme Court judge (Article 148). It is not “in the like manner” as the President.
• Which Article? Impeachment is Article 61. Don’t confuse it with 59 (conditions of office), 62 (emoluments) or 63 (Vice-President). Article 361 is a different matter. It gives the President immunity from courts. See Article 361: Immunity of President and Governors.
• Majority trap: “two-thirds of members present and voting” is the amendment standard under Article 368. Impeachment needs two-thirds of total membership.
• Ground, notice, majority, houses: these precise facts are what examiners test.

5Previous Year Questions

Exam angle: three real questions.

Quick Q&A

• Impeachment Article? Article 61.
• Ground? Violation of the Constitution.
• Notice? 1/4th of total membership, 14 days.
• Majority? 2/3rds of total membership, twice.
• Who votes? Parliament only.