Previous Year Question
In the absence of the President of India, if Vice-President is not available, who of the following can act as the President?
Chief Justice of India
Prime Minister
Speaker of the Lok Sabha
Attorney General of India
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
The correct answer is the Chief Justice of India. When the offices of both the President and the Vice-President are vacant, the President (Discharge of Functions) Act, 1969 provides that the Chief Justice of India shall discharge the functions of the President.
If the Chief Justice of India is also unavailable, the senior-most available Judge of the Supreme Court discharges the functions of the President. This continues until a newly elected President enters office or a newly elected Vice-President begins to act as President under Article 65, whichever occurs earlier.
The arrangement is useful to understand along with Articles 65 and 70. Ordinarily, when the office of President becomes vacant, the Vice-President acts as President. Parliament enacted the 1969 law to deal with the further contingency in which both offices are unavailable.
A notable historical example occurred in 1969. After the death of President Dr. Zakir Husain, Vice-President V. V. Giri acted as President. When V. V. Giri later resigned, Chief Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah discharged the functions of President.
Thus—
President unavailable → Vice-President
President + Vice-President unavailable → Chief Justice of India
CJI also unavailable → senior-most available Supreme Court Judge