Article 74 — Council of Ministers to Aid and Advise President

(1) There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice: Provided that the President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such advice either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.

(2) The question whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered by Ministers to the President shall not be inquired into in any court.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The original Article 74 merely stated that the President 'shall' act on the advice of the Council of Ministers — but the word 'shall' was disputed. The Supreme Court in Shamsher Singh v. State of Punjab (1974) firmly held that the President must act on ministerial advice. The 42nd Amendment (1976) made this explicit by inserting 'shall act in accordance with such advice.' The 44th Amendment (1978) added the proviso allowing the President to return advice once for reconsideration, after which it is binding. This was used by President Venkataraman in 1991 (V. P. Singh government's Mandal Commission decision) and by President K. R. Narayanan in 1998 (imposition of President's Rule in Bihar).

• 42nd Amendment (1976) — Made binding nature of ministerial advice explicit.
• 44th Amendment (1978) — Added proviso permitting President to send advice back once for reconsideration.

• Article 75
• Article 356
• Article 368

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026