Oath or Affirmation by the Vice-President (Article 69)

VP oath is the constitutional requirement under Article 69 that every Vice-President of India must make and subscribe an oath or affirmation before entering upon office. Unlike the President, whose oath is administered by the Chief Justice of India, the Vice-President's oath is administered by the President himself, or by some person appointed by the President for that purpose — a distinction that examiners like to test.

Article 69: Text and Meaning

Article 69 provides that every Vice-President shall, before entering upon his office, make and subscribe before the President, or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation in the form set out in the Third Schedule to the Constitution. In substance, the elected Vice-President swears to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and to faithfully discharge the duty upon which he is about to enter.

Who Administers the Oath

The choice of who administers the oath is deliberate and varies across constitutional offices. For the Vice-President, Article 69 places this responsibility with the President of India (or a nominee of the President) — not with the Chief Justice of India, who administers the oath to the President under Article 60. This reflects the constitutional design in which the Vice-President's office, while high-ranking, is textually placed as answerable in this procedural respect to the President rather than to the judiciary.

Office	Oath administered by	Governing Article
President	Chief Justice of India (or senior-most judge available)	Article 60
Vice-President	President (or a person appointed by the President)	Article 69
Governor	Chief Justice of the High Court of the State (or senior-most judge)	Article 159
Union Ministers	President	Article 75
Members of Parliament	Designated authority under Article 99	Article 99
Judges of the Supreme Court	President	Third Schedule
Judges of a High Court	Governor of the State	Article 219

The Third Schedule

The Third Schedule to the Constitution lays down the standard forms of oaths and affirmations to be used across a range of constitutional offices — Union Ministers, candidates and members of Parliament, State Ministers, members of State Legislatures, and Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. The Vice-President's oath under Article 69 also draws its form from this Schedule, keeping the language and structure of constitutional oaths uniform across offices even though the administering authority differs from case to case.

Why the Oath Matters

The oath is not a mere formality; it is the constitutional act that formally invests the elected candidate with the office. A person who has been elected Vice-President does not become entitled to function as Vice-President — including presiding as ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha — until this oath has been taken. The same logic runs through the Constitution's other oath provisions: for instance, Article 104 penalises a Member of Parliament for sitting and voting before making the oath prescribed under Article 99.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Article 69 requires the Vice-President's oath to be administered by the President, or a person appointed by the President — not the Chief Justice of India.
• The oath form for the Vice-President is drawn from the Third Schedule of the Constitution.
• Contrast with Article 60 (President's oath, administered by the CJI) and Article 159 (Governor's oath, administered by the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court).

Mains

• Examine the constitutional logic behind assigning different administering authorities for the oaths of the President, Vice-President, and Governors.
• Discuss the significance of the oath of office as a formal step of assumption of constitutional authority.

FAQ

Q1. Who administers the oath of office to the Vice-President of India? The President of India, or a person appointed by the President for that purpose, under Article 69.

Q2. Where is the exact form of the Vice-President's oath found? In the Third Schedule to the Constitution of India.

Q3. Why isn't the Vice-President's oath administered by the Chief Justice of India, as with the President? The Constitution deliberately assigns different administering authorities to different high offices; for the Vice-President, this responsibility rests with the President rather than the judiciary.

Q4. Can a person function as Vice-President before taking the oath? No. The oath under Article 69 must be made and subscribed before the elected Vice-President enters upon the office.

Quick Revision

• Article 69: Vice-President's oath is made before entering office.
• Administered by the President, or a person appointed by the President.
• Oath form is prescribed in the Third Schedule.
• Contrast: President's oath — administered by the Chief Justice of India (Article 60).
• Contrast: Governor's oath — administered by the Chief Justice of the State High Court (Article 159).

Sources

• The Constitution of India, Articles 60, 69, 99, 159, 219 and the Third Schedule — https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india/

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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