Vice-President as Ex Officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha
Official heading: “The Vice-President to be ex officio Chairman of the Council of States”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part V, Article 64, printed pages 29–30
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
- Not yet reviewed
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1. In One Sentence
Article 64 designates the Vice-President as the ex officio Chairman of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and bars them from holding other offices of profit or drawing Chairman salary while acting as President.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 64 defines the primary day-to-day constitutional function of the Vice-President: serving as the ex officio Chairman of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha). By virtue of holding the vice-presidential office, they preside over all debates and proceedings of the upper house.
The article prohibits the Vice-President from holding any other office of profit, ensuring complete focus and institutional neutrality.
The Proviso contains a crucial separation rule: whenever the Vice-President acts as President or discharges presidential functions under Article 65, they cannot perform the duties of the Rajya Sabha Chairman and are not entitled to the Chairman’s salary under Article 97, drawing instead the emoluments of the President.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
Rajya Sabha convenes for a legislative session to debate a major finance bill.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 64 links the executive Vice-Presidency with parliamentary legislative leadership.
- Ex officio chairmanship: Automatically presides over Rajya Sabha without separate legislative election.
- Absolute bar against holding any secondary office of profit.
- Role segregation: Ceases to act as Chairman while discharging presidential functions under Article 65.
- Salary alignment: Does not draw Chairman’s salary while acting as President.
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 64, printed pages 29–30 • 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.