Pocket Veto

• This power of the President not to take any action (either positive or negative) on the bill is known as the pocket veto. Hence statement (I) is correct.
• The President can exercise this veto power as the Constitution does not prescribe any time limit within which he has to take the decision with respect to a bill presented to him for his assent.
• The President has no veto power in respect of a constitutional amendment bill.
• The 24th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1971 made it obligatory for the President to give his assent to a constitutional amendment bill.

Suspensive Veto

• The President exercises this veto when he returns a bill for reconsideration of the Parliament.
• However, if the bill is passed again by the Parliament with or without amendments and again presented to the President, it is obligatory for the President to give his assent to the bill.
• This means that the presidential veto is overridden by a repassage of the bill by the same ordinary majority.
• The President does not possess this veto in the case of money bills.
• The President can either give his assent to a money bill or withhold his assent to a money bill but cannot return it for the reconsideration of the Parliament.

Executive powers of the President

• The executive power of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution.
• All executive action of the Government of India shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the President.
• Orders and other instruments made and executed in the name of the President shall be authenticated in such manner as may be specified in rules to be made by the President.
•  The validity of an order or instrument which is so authenticated shall not be called in question on the ground that it is not an order or instrument made or executed by the President.
• The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.

Legislative Council

• Strength Unlike the members of the legislative assembly, the members of the legislative council are indirectly elected.
• The maximum strength of the council is fixed at one-third of the total strength of the assembly and the minimum strength is fixed at 40.
• It means that the size of the council depends on the size of the assembly of the concerned state.
• This is done to ensure the predominance of the directly elected House (assembly) in the legislative affairs of the state.
• Though the Constitution has fixed the maximum and the minimum limits, the actual strength of a Council is fixed by Parliament.

Powers of Governor

• Every ordinary bill, after it is passed by the legislative assembly in case of a unicameral legislature or by both the Houses in case of a bicameral legislature either in the first instance or in the second instance, is presented to the governor for his assent.
• He has four alternatives:

1. He may give his assent to the bill, the bill then becomes an act.
2. He may withhold his assent to the bill, the bill then ends and does not become an act.
3. He may return the bill for reconsideration of the House or Houses. If the bill is passed by the House or Houses again with or without amendments and presented to the governor for his assent, the governor must give his assent to the bill. Thus, the governor enjoys only a ‘suspensive veto’.