Suspensive Veto

Introduction

Indian constitution has given different kinds of veto power to the president of India as per the “article 111”. The president of India has the power to return any kind of bill to the parliament without or with any considerations. This type of power of the president is called “suspensive veto power of the president”. However, the president of India is found to enjoy different kinds of other veto power as well such as “pocket veto” and “absolute veto power”. In this report, the significance of the “suspensive veto” of the Indian president has been discussed with its shortcomings. The critical analysis of “suspensive veto” with other sorts of veto power has been highlighted. 

Veto power of president with special emphasis on suspensive veto power

The president of India is found to have enormous power, although most of the activities performed by the Indian president are done by the intervention or by the consultation with the “prime minister of India”. In this regard, it can be said that the president of India acts as the “paper tiger”. However, in terms of veto power, it can be noticed that the president of India enjoys three types of power such as “absolute veto power”, “pocket veto” and “suspensive veto power”. The suspensive veto is the most significant one among all the veto powers which are enjoyed by the “honourable president of India”. Suspensive veto means holding the bill for some time by giving consideration or not and sending it back to the parliament for the legislature’s intervention. However, after returning from the parliament, even with the “ordinary majority” of votes, the president is bound to provide assent on that particular bill. Then that bill is regarded as the act which will be enforceable to all the citizens of India. On the contrary, the president has the power to refuse to give any assent on any bill which is considered as the absolute veto power. In addition, a different kind of veto power remained with the president which is “pocket veto”. The pocket veto allows the president to take no action on a bill for an indefinite period. Therefore, this particular veto power is called the “pocket veto” as the president keeps the bill in his pocket and takes no action for an indefinite time. The parliament and the president are the major topics in the syllabus of polity. In order to understand Indian politics, it is very helpful to understand the structure and responsibilities of the Indian parliament to grab the subject polity effectively. 

Critical analysis of suspensive veto of Indian president

The suspensive veto power is the power of the president which allows the president to return any kind of bills to the parliament without or with considerations. Therefore, the bill is supposed to be suspended for a long time until it gets the majority in the parliament again. Therefore, by using the suspensive veto power, the Indian president can send back any kind of bill for the reconsideration purpose in any house of the parliament. However, it can be observed that if that bill is passed within the parliament even if by the “ordinary majority”, then the president has to provide the assent on that particular bill. Therefore, it can be evaluated that suspensive veto power is not absolute for the president. It can be noticed that the president can not use the power of suspensive veto in case of money bill. In this regard, money bill is the type of bill which deals with finance related matters and the concept of money bill is described within the Indian constitution within the article 110. It is found that money bills can be presented in front of Lok Sabha only. The speaker of the Lok Sabha has the power to decide whether the bill is a money bill or not. 

Limitation of veto power of the president

It can be noticed that some limitations are there while exercising the veto power. It can be observed that the president has not given any kind of veto power in case of “the constitutional amendment bills”. The amendment bills related to the constitution can be amended with the sole intervention of members of parliament by voting procedure. Therefore, it can be noticed that in case of “the constitutional amendment bills”, suspense veto cannot be applied. In addition, the president can not apply the “suspensive veto power” in case of a money bill. 

Conclusion

It can be concluded that a “suspensive veto” is a power which is applied by the Indian president. Any bill can be sent back to the parliament for the purpose of reconsideration by using the suspensive veto. In the case of a “money bill”, it can be exercised. In addition,  “veto power” cannot be applied in case of “the constitutional amendment bills”.  Therefore, certain limitations are found within the veto power of the president. Other than suspensive veto power, presidents have other two kinds of veto power named as “pocket veto” and “absolute veto”. Veto power is significant to keep control on the legislature of the Indian government.