Which of the following statements about Veto power of President are correct ?
(a) He/she can withholds his/her assent to the bill.
(b) Governor may reserve a bill for consideration of the President in

Question

Which of the following statements about Veto power of President are correct ?
(a) He/she can withholds his/her assent to the bill.
(b) Governor may reserve a bill for consideration of the President in any case he/she thinks fit.
(c) President can return bill to Parliament for reconsideration with message to both houses.

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — option (4), '(a), (b), (c)'. All three statements are accurate, and each traces to a specific provision. Statement (a) reproduces Article 111: when a Bill passed by both Houses of Parliament is presented to the President, the President shall declare either that assent is given or that assent is WITHHELD. Withholding assent outright is what the textbooks call the absolute veto, and the option's printed wording 'can withholds' is a slip of the press, not a change of meaning. Statement (c) reproduces the proviso to the same Article: the President may, as soon as possible after the Bill is presented, return it — if it is not a Money Bill — to the Houses with a message requesting that they reconsider the Bill or any specified provisions of it, and consider any amendments recommended in that message. This is the suspensive veto, and it is suspensive rather than absolute because if the Houses pass the Bill again, with or without amendment, and present it once more, the President SHALL NOT withhold assent. Statement (b) moves to the States and reproduces Article 200: a Bill passed by a State legislature is presented to the Governor, who shall declare either that he assents, or that he withholds assent, or that he RESERVES THE BILL for the consideration of the President. That third course is open to the Governor generally, in a case he thinks fit, and it is separately made obligatory where a Bill would so derogate from the powers of the High Court as to endanger the position that Court is designed to fill. Three statements, three provisions, all correct — option (4).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) This option drops statement (c), which is as clearly correct as the other two. The proviso to Article 111 expressly empowers the President to return a Bill, other than a Money Bill, to the Houses with a message asking them to reconsider it or any of its provisions. A candidate reaches this option by confusing the rule for ordinary Bills with the rule for Money Bills — a Money Bill cannot be returned for reconsideration, since it is introduced only on the President's own recommendation, and the President can only assent to it or withhold assent. The restriction is real, but it is a restriction on one class of Bill, not a denial of the power to return.  (b) This option rejects statement (a), the plainest of the three. Article 111 gives the President two courses on the face of the Article — to assent or to withhold assent — and the power to withhold is the absolute veto. It is not a dead letter: it is available in practice on private members' Bills, and on a government Bill where the ministry that piloted it has since resigned and the new Council of Ministers advises against assent. What is true is that the President exercises this power very rarely and on ministerial advice, but rarity of use is not absence of power, and the statement claims no more than the Article says.  (c) The two statements about the President are kept and the statement about the Governor is discarded — a natural move, since the stem announces itself as being about the veto power of the President and statement (b) speaks of the Governor. But statement (b) is nonetheless true, and it belongs to the same subject: reservation under Article 200 is the mechanism by which a State Bill reaches the President for a decision on assent at all, and the President's own powers over such a Bill are then governed by Article 201. Discarding a statement because it seems off-topic, rather than because it is false, is the error this option is built to catch.

Concept: The President's options on a Bill passed by Parliament are conventionally described as three vetoes. The ABSOLUTE VETO is the withholding of assent, so that the Bill simply does not become law; in practice it is used on private members' Bills and where a change of ministry leaves the new Council of Ministers advising against assent. The SUSPENSIVE VETO is the return of a Bill, other than a Money Bill, with a message requesting reconsideration; it is suspensive because if the Houses pass the Bill again, with or without amendment, the President must then assent. The POCKET VETO is not named in the Constitution but follows from its silence: no time limit is prescribed within which the President must act, so a Bill may simply be kept pending. Two limits complete the picture. A Money Bill cannot be returned for reconsideration, since it is introduced only on the President's recommendation in the first place. And a Constitution Amendment Bill leaves the President no choice at all — since the 24th Amendment Act of 1971 it has been obligatory to give assent.

State PCS 2026 Q79 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q79 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer