📄 From your Polity Notes PDF
The Vice-President is the Republic's second-highest constitutional office, after the President.
🗳️ 1. Election
- Elected by members of both Houses of Parliament, including nominated members — the same electoral college as a presidential impeachment, but notably excluding State Legislative Assembly members (unlike the President's own electoral college).
- The electorate is simpler than the President's, but the voting method is not: still uses proportional representation via the single transferable vote, by secret ballot.
- Any election dispute is decided by the Supreme Court, whose ruling is final.
🎓 2. Qualifications
- Citizen of India, at least 35 years old, qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
- Must not hold any office of profit under the Union, a State, or any local/other authority.
- A sitting President or Vice-President, a Governor of any State, or a Minister for the Union or any State is deemed not to hold an office of profit for this purpose — so they remain eligible to contest, whether the seat sought is in Parliament or a State Legislature.
- Nomination needs 20 proposers and 20 seconders, plus a security deposit of ₹15,000 with the RBI.
🙏 3. Oath or Affirmation
Swears to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India and to faithfully discharge the duties of the office. The oath is administered by the President, or by a person appointed by the President for the purpose.
📋 4. Conditions of Office
- Must not hold any other office of profit.
- Must not be a member of either House of Parliament or any State Legislature; an existing seat must be resigned/vacated on election.
⏳ 5. Term of Office, Resignation & Removal
- Term of 5 years; may resign earlier by letter to the President.
- May be removed only by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha, passed by a special (effective) majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha — the removal resolution can only be moved in the Rajya Sabha, not the Lok Sabha.
- 14 days' advance notice of intent to move such a resolution is required.
- Unlike presidential impeachment, the Constitution specifies no particular grounds for removing the Vice-President.
- May continue beyond term expiry until a successor takes charge, and is eligible for re-election any number of times.
Procedure for Removing the Vice-President
- 14 days' advance notice required.
- Resolution passed by the Rajya Sabha (special majority).
- Resolution agreed to by the Lok Sabha (simple majority).
- Vice-President removed from office.
🕳️ 6. Vacancy
The office may fall vacant on expiry of tenure, resignation, removal, death, or if the election itself is declared void.
⚖️ 7. Election Disputes
Any dispute regarding the Vice-President's election is decided by the Supreme Court, whose decision is final.
🏛️ 8. Powers and Functions
- Ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha — broadly comparable to the Speaker's role in the Lok Sabha.
- Acts as President when the office falls vacant due to death, removal (impeachment), or resignation, or when the sitting President cannot discharge functions — but does not act as President once his own VP term has expired.
- May act as President for a maximum of six months, continuing only until a new President is elected and takes charge.
VP acts as President when: the President dies · is removed (impeachment) · resigns · or is unable to discharge functions — for a maximum of 6 months, until a new President is elected, but never once the VP's own term expires.
💰 9. Emoluments
The Constitution does not itself prescribe a salary for the Vice-President; by convention and statute, he draws a salary as ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. This was most recently raised to ₹4,00,000/month under the 2018 revision of parliamentary-officer salaries (up from ₹1,25,000/month earlier).
- While acting as President, the Vice-President instead draws the President's salary and allowances (not the VP salary), and on retirement is entitled to a pension of between 20% and 50% of that salary.
- While so acting, he does not perform the duties of Chairman of the Rajya Sabha — those pass to the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Some commentators have wryly called the office "a superfluous highness"; more charitably, it exists chiefly to maintain unbroken continuity in India's highest constitutional office.
⚡ 10. Quick Revision Snapshot
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Constitutional Articles | 63–71 (Part V, Chapter I) |
| Electoral college | Elected + nominated MPs of both Houses (State MLAs excluded) |
| Voting method | Proportional representation by single transferable vote, secret ballot |
| Minimum age | 35 years |
| Nomination requirement | 20 proposers + 20 seconders; ₹15,000 security deposit |
| Term | 5 years; unlimited re-elections permitted |
| Removal | Rajya Sabha resolution (special majority) agreed to by Lok Sabha; 14 days' notice; no grounds specified in the Constitution |
| Ex-officio role | Chairman of the Rajya Sabha |
| Max period acting as President | 6 months, or until a new President is elected, whichever is earlier |
| Current salary (ex-officio, as RS Chairman) | ₹4,00,000/month (revised 2018) |
| Election dispute authority | Supreme Court (decision final) |
🎯 Exam Angle
The sharpest Prelims trap here: the Vice-President's electoral college excludes State Assembly members (unlike the President's), and his removal resolution can only be moved in the Rajya Sabha. Mains answers benefit from contrasting the VP's undefined removal grounds with the President's precisely defined impeachment process under Article 61.
