Question

The oath is administered to the President of India by ________________.
A. Chief Justice of Supreme Court
B. Prime Minister of India
C. Chief Justice of the High Court
D. Speaker of the Parliament

Answer 1

Hint:
The person who administers the oath of the President of India is the Indian federal judiciary's highest-ranking officer. He is also appointed to his office on the nomination of the President on the advice of the Parliament.

Complete step by step solution:
 In a parliamentary democracy with constitutional supremacy, the President is the constitutional head with duties to uphold, defend, and maintain the constitution and rule of law. The presidential election process in India is more complex than that of the Prime Minister, who is also indirectly elected (not directly elected by the citizen) by the members of the Lok Sabha.

Whenever the office becomes vacant, the new President is chosen by an ‘electoral college’. An electoral college consists of elected representatives of both houses of parliament (MPs), elected members of all State Legislative Assemblies (Vidhan Sabha), and elected members of Union Territories Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) with legislatures, i.e., Delhi's National Capital Territory (NCT), Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry. Elections for the President are conducted by means of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) process in accordance with the system of Proportional Representation (PR). Voting is carried out by a secret ballot scheme. Article 55 of the Constitution provides for a way of electing a President.

The President is required to take the oath in the presence of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. India's President (Discharge of Functions) Act, 1969 specifies that in the event of the offices of both the President and the Vice President being vacant, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) shall act as the President of India. In his absence, during the time of the President's oath, the senior-most judge of the supreme court can administer.


Hence, the correct answer is option A.

Note:
Usually, the Chief Justice of India is the Supreme Court's senior-most judge. This pattern, however, was broken when A.N. Raywas was appointed in 1973 and when M.U. Beg was appointed in 1977. At the point, they had both superseded the senior-most judges.