Solution:

Absolute Veto:


It refers to the power of the President to withhold his assent to a bill passed by the Parliament. The bill then ends and does not become an act. Usually, this veto is exercised in the following two cases:

(a) With respect to private members’ bills (bills introduced by any member of Parliament who is not a minister);

(b) With respect to the government bills when the cabinet resign (after the passage of the bills but before the assent by the President) and the new cabinet advises the President not to give his assent to such bills.

Suspensive Veto:

The President exercises this veto when he returns a bill for reconsideration of the Parliament. However, if the bill is passed again by the Parliament with or without amendments and again presented to the President, it is obligatory for the President to give his assent to the bill. This means that the President veto is overridden by a re-passage of the bill by the same ordinary majority.

Pocket Veto:

In this case, the President neither ratifies nor rejects nor returns the bill, but simply keeps the bill pending for an indefinite period. This power of the President no to take any action (either positive or negative) on the bill is known as the Pocket Veto. The President can exercise this veto power as the Constitution does not prescribe any time-limit within which he has to take the decision with respect to a bill presented to him for his assent.

In 1986, President Zail Singh exercised the pocket veto with respect to Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill. The bill, passed by the Rajiv Gandhi Government, imposed a restriction on the freedom of the press.

It should be noted here that the President has no veto power in respect of a Constitutional Amendment Bill. The 24th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1971 made it obligatory for the President to give his assent to a constitutional amendment bill.