The president is the nominal head of the executive,[a] the first citizen of the country, as well as the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces.

[3] The president is bound by the constitution to act on the advice of the council and to enforce the decrees passed by the Supreme Court under article 142.

India achieved independence from the British on 15 August 1947, initially as a dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations with George VI as king, represented in the country by a governor-general.

[4] Following independence, the Constituent Assembly of India, under the leadership of B. R. Ambedkar, undertook the process of drafting a completely new constitution for the country.

The role of the judiciary in upholding the Constitution of India is the second line of defence in nullifying any unconstitutional actions of the executive and legislative entities of the Indian Union.

Re-promulgation of an ordinance after failing to get approval within the stipulated time of both houses of parliament is an unconstitutional act by the president.

The president should take moral responsibility when an ordinance elapses automatically or is not approved by the parliament or violates the constitution.

If the president considers a question of law or a matter of public importance has arisen, they can also ask for the advisory opinion of the supreme court per Article 143.

Per Article 88, the president can ask the attorney general to attend the parliamentary proceedings and report to him any unlawful functioning if any.

The president appoints 12 members of the Rajya Sabha from amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.

[26]: 12 A national emergency can be declared in the whole of India or a part of its territory for causes of war or armed rebellion or an external aggression.

If the emergency needs to be extended for more than three years, this can be achieved by a constitutional amendment, as has happened in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

There is no provision in the constitution to re-promulgate president's rule in a state when the earlier promulgation ceased to operate for want of parliaments approval within two months duration.

President's rule was promulgated after being fully aware that the earliest parliament session is feasible at the end of May 2014 after the general elections.

[8][40] Article 293 gives liberty to states to borrow without any limit to its ability for its requirements within the territory of India without any consent from the Union government.

[8] However, until now no guidelines defining the situation of financial emergency in the entire country or a state or union territory or a panchayat or a municipality or a corporation have been framed either by the finance commission or by the central government.

The official state car of the president is a custom-built heavily armored Mercedes Benz S600 (W221) Pullman Guard.

[55] The Supreme Court shall inquire and decide regarding all doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with the election of a president per Article 71(1) of the constitution.

The Supreme Court can remove the president for the electoral malpractices or upon being not eligible to be a member of the Lok Sabha under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

A resolution to impeach the president has to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the total number of members of the originating house.

[59] No president has resigned on impropriety to continue in office for declaring and nullifying their unconstitutional decisions by the courts till now.

The president's role as defender of the constitution and the powers as Head of State, especially in relation to those exercised by the prime minister as leader of the government, have changed over time.

[21] Since then, presidents have been more diligent in directing incoming Prime Ministers to convene parliament and prove their majority within reasonable deadlines (2 to 3 weeks).

In such cases, presidents have used their discretion and directed Prime Ministerial aspirants to establish their credentials before being invited to form the government.

Typically, the aspirants have been asked to produce letters from various party leaders, with the signatures of all the MPs who are pledging support to their candidature.

This is in addition to the requirement that a prime minister proves he has the support of the Lok Sabha (by a vote on the floor of the house) within weeks of being sworn into office.

This was by means of Rashtrapati Bhavan Communiqués explaining, to the nation, the thinking that led to the various decisions he took while exercising their discretionary powers.

In mid-2006, President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam sent back a controversial bill regarding the exclusion of certain offices from the scope of 'offices of profit', the holding of which would disqualify a person from being a member of parliament.

The UPA chose to send the bill back to the president without any changes and, after 17 days, Kalam gave his assent on 18 August 2006.

[68][69] Arunachal Pradesh governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa, who was earlier appointed by the ruling party at the centre, was sacked by President Pranab Mukherjee after the Supreme Court struck down his unconstitutional acts.