Sir, I shall be extremely short. These words occur in clause (1) of article 54. It says that the Vice-President shall act as the President during a vacancy ‘until the date on which’ a newly elected President enters upon his office. I shall ask the House to consider only one example. Suppose the Vice-President acts in a vacancy in the President’s office and a new President is elected and enters upon his office at noon on the 1st of January. By this clause it is laid down that the Vice-President shall act as President ‘until the date on which’ the new President enters upon his office. So he can act only up to the 31st of December, because he can act only, “until the date on which” the new President enters upon his office which is the 1st of January. From the midnight of the 31st December till the noon of the 1st January when the new President enters upon his office, there will be no one to preside over the functions of the Government of India. There will be no President; there will be no Vice-President. The amendment seeks to fill up this political vacuum.
