Whether the repealing of the Article 87 as introduced in the 139 th Constitutional

Amendment Bill, 2015 constitutionally valid ?

If humbly contended before this honble bench that Article 87 repealed through constitutional
amendment is constitutionally valid.
The president is the head of the state and formal executive, all executive action at the centre
is taken in his name.1 The provisions of the Article 87 prior of the 139th constitutional
amendment, 2015 mandated that the president had to address the joint session of the
parliament. The Presidential address, as the constitutional Head, under the exercise of the
constitutional provision requires the attendance of all the members of both the houses of the
parliament to hear his address, solemnity and dignity acting as the symbol of the constitution
and not in sense of executive authority. It is important, from the point of view of showing
proper respect to the Constitution, that every member should maintain utmost dignity and
decorum. It is as much a constitutional obligation on the part of the members to listen to the
President's Address with decorum and dignity as it is on the part of the President to address
Parliament2. But the president over a course of time have been subject to disrespect as
members tend to walk out or interrupt the presidents speech. On 20 December 1989, during
the Address, as soon as the President read out the relevant paragraph on Mandal Commission,
a member of the Rajya Sabha started shouting about the non-implementation of the
assurances regarding Mandal Commission.3 On 21 February 1991, during the Address, a
member of the Rajya Sabha stood up and protested against the absence of any reference in it
to the Mandal Commission Report and later walked out. 4 On 11 July 1991, during the
Address, a member of the Rajya Sabha caused interruption.5 Shri Raj Narain, Shri Nageshwar
Prasad Shahi and Shri Sitaram Singh (members of Rajya Sabha) who created obstruction and
showed disrespect to the President on the occasion of presidents Address to both the Houses
1 M P JAIN, INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW , 7th Edition, 122
2 President's Address, Motion of Thanks and Messages available at rajyasabha.nic.in
3 Hindustan Times, 21.12.1989
4 Times of India, 13.3.1990
5 Hindustan Times, 12.9.1991

of Parliament assembled together under article 87 of the Constitution of India on 23.3.1971. 6

The President was forced to address the disorderly members. 7 More recently, the Presidents
address delivered on February 21, 2013 by President Pranab Mukherjee was interrupted by
protests over the hanging of Afzal Guru and war crimes in Sri Lanka. 8 So to avoid such a
disrespectful situation for the President while addressing the Parliament the article has been
repealed.
Former president of India, Shri Venkatraman criticises the practise of presidential address to a
joint session of Parliament as
The address was prepared by the government and contained only it's views and the president
and governors were mere mouth pieces. While this is a fact, very often the president or
governors are criticised on the contents of the address, creating a wrong public impression
about these dignitaries. The disorderly conduct during these addresses marred the dignity of
high offices.
Shri Venkatraman even wrote the then prime minster to amend the constitutional deleting the
meaningless formality.9
The President's Address is the statement of policy of the Government and as such is drafted
by the Government. The Address consists of several paragraphs prepared on the basis of
material supplied by different Ministries and Departments of the Government. Few months
prior to the Address, the Prime Minister's Office requests all Secretaries to the Government
of India to supply material on matters in respect of their Ministries/Departments for
incorporation in the Address.10

6 Decisional Analysis and the Role of the Speaker, Harish Kalra, The Hindu Centre for Public Policy
7 Socialists walk-out an insult to President, The Hindu, February 19, 1963 p. 1
8 Afzal, Sri Lanka protests mar Presidents address, Times of India, February 21, 2013 last accessed
on August 6, 2013 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-02-21/india/37220891_1_srilanka-afzalguru-president-pranab-mukherjee
9 M P JAIN, INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 7th Edition, 53
10President's Address, Motion of Thanks and Messages available at rajyasabha.nic.in

Therefore the content of the address is made by the government itself and the president isnt
responsible.