Five-Year Term, Resignation, and Impeachment of the President
Official heading: “Term of office of President”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part V, Article 56, printed pages 27–28
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
- Not yet reviewed
AI-assisted source comparisons are noted with the citations below; the check date remains pending until a human confirms the link. The report link opens your email app; you choose whether to send it.
1. In One Sentence
Article 56 fixes the President’s term at five years from assuming office, subject to resignation addressed to the Vice-President, impeachment for violating the Constitution, and continuation until a successor enters office.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 56 establishes that the President holds office for a regular term of five years from the date on which they enter upon office. This provides executive stability while ensuring periodic democratic renewal.
The proviso contains three vital exceptions: first, the President may resign voluntarily at any time by writing under their hand addressed to the Vice-President (who must immediately communicate the resignation to the Lok Sabha Speaker under clause 2). Second, the President may be removed through the formal impeachment process in Article 61 for "violation of the Constitution".
Third, proviso (c) commands that notwithstanding the expiration of the five-year term, the incumbent President continues in office until their successor formally enters upon office, preventing any constitutional vacuum at the top of the state.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A presidential five-year term expires on 24 July, but the newly elected successor has not yet taken the oath due to unforeseen procedural delays.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 56 governs presidential tenure, voluntary resignation, impeachment grounds, and office continuity.
- Five-year tenure calculated strictly from the date of entering upon office.
- Resignation procedure: Hand-signed letter to the Vice-President, who must notify the Speaker.
- Impeachment threshold: Permissible solely on the ground of "violation of the Constitution".
- Doctrine of continuous tenure: Incumbent continues until successor enters office.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part V, Article 56, printed pages 27–28 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.