Question

Which one of the following sequences of dignitaries is in the correct order as per the protocol in India?
A) Prime Minister > Former President > Chief Justice of India
B) Prime Minister > Chief Justice of India > Former President
C) Chief Justice of India > Prime Minister > Former President
D) Former President > Prime Minister >Chief Justice of India

Answer 1

Hint: The protocol list (hierarchy of significant positions) in which functionaries, dignitaries, and officials are not placed according to their rank and office in the Government of India is the Republic of India's order of precedence. The President of India establishes the order through the President's Secretariat, and the Ministry of Home Affairs maintains it. It is only used for ceremonial purposes and has no legal standing. It does not reflect the Indian presidential line of succession or the separation of powers' co-equal position under the constitution. It does not apply to the Government of India's day-to-day operations.

Complete answer:
This (Prime Minister > Former President > Chief Justice of India) sequence of dignitaries is in the correct order as per the protocol in India.

Prime minister: India's Prime Minister. The Prime Minister of India, or the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, is the head of the Indian government's executive branch. The prime minister is the president of India's top adviser and the chairman of the Union Council of Ministers. They can serve in either the Lok Sabha (House of the People) or the Rajya Sabha (Council of the States) of India's Parliament, but they must be a member of a political party or coalition with a majority in the Lok Sabha.

Former president: The president of India is the country's head of state and the Supreme Commander of its armed forces. The president is referred to as the country's first citizen. Even though the Indian Constitution bestows certain powers on the prime minister, the post is mostly ceremonial, and the prime minister exercises executive powers in practice.

Chief justice of India: The Indian Supreme Court Chief Justice The Head Justice of India is the highest-ranking officer of the Indian federal judiciary and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India. The president of India is empowered by the Indian Constitution to nominate the next chief justice, in consultation with the departing top justice, who will serve until they reach the age of 65 or are impeached. The name suggested by the current chief justice is nearly invariably the next most senior judge on the Supreme Court, as is customary.

This (Prime Minister > Former President > Chief Justice of India) sequence of dignitaries is in the correct order as per the protocol in India. Thus the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: The chief justice is in charge of allocating cases and appointing constitutional benches that deal with key legal issues as head of the Supreme Court. According to Article 145 of the Indian Constitution and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice assigns all work to the other judges, who are obligated to return the case to him (for re-allocation) if they require it to be heard by a bigger bench of justices.