Previous Year Question
With reference to the election of the Vice-President of India, which is declared void by the Supreme Court of India, which of the following statement/s is/are correct?
The acts done by him as Vice-President before such declaration are considered valid.
The acts done by him as Vice-President on the day of such declaration are not considered valid.
Select the correct answer from the code given below:
Code:
Neither 1 nor 2
Only 1
Only 2
Both 1 and 2
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
Article 71 of the Constitution deals with disputes relating to the election of the President and Vice-President. Under Article 71(1), all doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with the election of a President or Vice-President are inquired into and decided by the Supreme Court, whose decision is final.
Statement 1 is correct. Under Article 71(2), if the Supreme Court declares the election of a person as President or Vice-President void, acts done by that person in the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of the office up to the date of the decision are not invalidated merely because of that declaration.
Thus, official acts performed by the Vice-President before the Supreme Court's decision do not become invalid merely because his election is subsequently declared void.
Statement 2 is incorrect, because the constitutional protection is not restricted only to acts performed before the date of the decision. Article 71(2) expressly uses the words “on or before the date of the decision”, which means that acts performed on the date of the Supreme Court's decision as well as before it are protected from invalidation merely by reason of that declaration.
Therefore, acts done on the date on which the election is declared void are not automatically rendered invalid merely because of the declaration. Hence, Statement 2 is incorrect.
Another important fact is that under Article 71(4), the election of the President or Vice-President cannot be questioned merely on the ground that there was a vacancy, for whatever reason, among the members of the Electoral College.