Constitution of India · Part V: The Union · Council of Ministers
Article 74: Council of Ministers to aid and advise President
In plain words
There is a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister to aid and advise the President, who must act according to that advice. The President can ask the Council to reconsider its advice once, and must then act on the advice given after reconsideration.
- No court can inquire into whether, or what, advice Ministers gave the President.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
[(1) There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice:] [Provided that the President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.]
(2) The question whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered by Ministers to the President shall not be inquired into in any court.
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the official text of the Constitution of India. As amended up to the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023. Text as on 10 September 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the article 74
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XXX v. The Union of India & Others
Issue arose as to whether the writ petition be entertained at all having regard to the conduct of the petitioner-High Court Judge; does the In-house Procedure have legal sanction; is an inquiry and the consequent report…
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The State of Tamil Nadu v. The Governor of Tamil Nadu & Anr.
a. What courses of action are available to the Governor in exercise of his powers under Article 200 of the Constitution. b. Whether the Governor can reserve a Bill for the consideration of the President when it is…
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Manish Sisodia v. Central Bureau of
The two appeals are filed by the appellant-former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi seeking bail in the prosec utions arising from a case registered by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Penal…
- Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India
- Kaushal Kishor v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.
- Abu Salem Abdul Kayyum Ansari v. The State of Maharashtra
- Rajendra Diwan v. Pradeep Kumar Ranibala & Anr.
- Central Public Information Officer, v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal
- Yashwant Sinha & Ors. v. Central Bureau of Investigation Through Its Director & Anr.
- Govt. of NCT of Delhi v. Union of India
- Bimolangshu Roy (Dead) Through Lrs v. State of Assam & Another
- Nabam Rebia, and Bamang Felix v. Deputy Speaker and Others
- Supreme Court Advocates-On-Record Association and Another v. Union of India
- Manoj Narula v. Union of India
- Shatrughan Chauhan & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.
- Rajendra Nagar Adarsh Grah Nirman Sahkari Samiti Ltd. v. State of Rajasthan & Ors.
- Devender Pal Singh Bhullar v. State of N.C.T. of Delhi
- State of Gujarat & Anr. v. Honble Mr. Justice R. A. Mehta (Retd) & Ors.
- Centre for Pil & Anr. v. Union of India & Anr.
- Global Energy Ltd. & Anr. v. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
- Rameshwar Prasad and Ors. v. Union of India and Anr.
- Reference Under Article 317(1) of the Constitution of India, for Inquiry and Report on the Charges Leveled Against Dr. H.B. Mirdha,Chairman Orissa Psc v. .
- M.T. Khan and Ors. v. Government of Andhra Pradesh and Ors.
- Special Reference No. I of 2002 v. .
- S.R. Chaudhuri v. State of Punjab and Ors.
- Common Cause, A Registered Society v. Union of India & Ors.
- The State of Bihar and Ors. v. Subhash Singh
- S.P. Anand, Indore v. H.D. Deve Gowda and Ors.
- Commissioner of Police, Delhi and Anr. v. Registrar, Delhi High Court, New Delhi
- T.N. Seshan, Chief Election Commissioner of India Etc. v. Union of India and Others
- A.K. Kaul and Anr. v. Union of India
- Election Commission of India v. State Bank of India Staff Association Local Head Office Unit, Patna and Ors. Etc.
- S.R. Bommai v. Union of India and Ors.
- Supreme Court Advocates-On-Record Association and Anr. v. Union of India
- R.K.Jain v. Union of India and Ors.
- K. Veeraswami v. Union of India and Others
- S.S. Dhanoa v. Union of India and Ors.
- Supreme Court Employees Welfare Association Etc. Etc. v. Union of India & Anr. Etc. Etc.
- Kehar Singh and Anr. Etc. v. Union of India & Anr.
- Doypack Systems Pvt. Ltd. Etc. v. Union of India & Ors., Etc.
- Anand Kumar v. Sri Kattali Bhaskaran & Ors.
- Express Newspapers Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.
- Union of India and Another v. Tulsiram Patel and Others
- State of Maharashtra v. Narayan Shamrao Puranik and Others
- Devji Vallabhbhai Tandel Etc. v. The Administrator of Goa, Daman & Diu & Anr.
- S.P. Gupta & Ors. Etc. Etc. v. Union of India & Ors. Etc. Etc.
- State of Rajasthan & Ors. Etc. Etc. v. Union of India Etc. Etc.
- Shamsher Singh & Anr v. State of Punjab
- U. N. R. Rao v. Smt. Indira Gandhi
- Rustom Cavasjee Cooper v. Union of India
- Lt. Col. Khajoor Singh v. The Union of India & Another.
- In Re the Delhi Laws Act, 1912, the Ajmer-Merwara (Extension of Laws) Act, 1947 and the Part C States (Laws) Act, 1950 v. Reference Case
- A.K. Gopalan v. The State of Madras.