Question

Who has the authority to remove the Vice President from his office before the expiry of his term?
A)Rajya Sabha
B)Parliament
C)Lok Sabha
D)Supreme Court

Answer 1

Hint: Second in rank only to the President in the official rank of precedence, Vice President of India is the second highest office in the country. He also acts as the President in case the office of President falls vacant due to death, resignation or impeachment. He also is the ex officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha and has a similar role to that of the Speaker in Lok Sabha.

Complete Answer: The vice president is not directly elected by the people. A special electoral college that consists of both elected and nominated members of both the houses of the parliament elect the Vice President. The state legislatures don’t participate in Vice President's election. To be the Vice President of India one has to be an Indian citizen of at least 35 years who is qualified to be elected to the Rajya Sabha. He cannot hold any office of profit under the state or central government or any other public authority. The vice president has a tenure of five years. But he can be removed before the completion of his term. Removal of the Vice President doesn’t require a formal impeachment. A vice president can be removed by a simple resolution which has a majority of all the then members of the Rajya Sabha (effective majority ) and a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. The constitution doesn’t mention any grounds for the removal of the Vice President. However, any resolution to remove the vice president can only be initiated in the Rajya Sabha and with an advance 14 days notice.
-Option (A) and (C ) are incorrect as the resolution to remove the Vice President can only be introduced in the Rajya Sabha but it also needs support in the Lok Sabha to be passed.

Therefore the correct answer is option (B) -Parliament, as no single house can unilaterally remove the Vice President.

Note: One must not confuse the removal of the vice president with that of the president. Unlike the vice president , the president can be removed through a process of impeachment on the grounds of ‘violation of the constitution’. The impeachment motion can be initiated in either of the two houses and requires two third majority in both the house for it to be passed and for the president to be removed.