The Constituent Assembly debated Draft Article 48 on 27 December 1948 and 14 October 1949. The Draft Article laid down conditions for the President’s office including emoluments and benefits.
There was a proposal to ensure that if the President-elect was a ruler from a Princely state he/she would be required to give away his/her privy purse based pension/allowance. This would be consistent with the democratic and republican ideals of the Constitution. The Chair of the Drafting Committee suggested that this issue was better dealt with later when the Princely states accede to the Indian union.
A member wanted to delete ‘the President shall have an official residence’ from clause 3. He was against the insertion of such ‘insignificant, such a minor details’ in the Constitution; He noted that the American Constitution did not mention the White House. The Chairman of the Drafting Committee, in defence, pointed out that the Government of India Act 1935 and several other British Orders laid down official residences of the Governor-General and Governors. The Drafting Committee was merely encoding an already existing precedent.
Another member moved an amendment to add retirement benefits in the Draft Article. He argued that this provision was novel and even the American Constitution missed including such a provision. A host of officers including the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and judges of the higher judiciary enjoy pension post-retirement. It was important to extend this benefit to the former sovereign head of the nation. The Chairman of the Drafting Committee found this impractical. He noted that if a person were to be re-elected as a President, according to the proposal, he/she would be entitled to a pension for his/her previous term as President in addition to a salary for his/her current term and salary. He, however, conceded that providing pension to the President was a ‘laudable idea’, an initiative that future Parliaments would take forward.
The Assembly rejected all substantive proposals. On 27 December 1948, it adopted the Draft Article with minor amendments. On 14th October 1949, the Assembly re-opened this Article and adopted minor amendments.
