Judgement

A.M. Ahmadi, CJI. -  Can a person who is not a member of either House of Parliament be sworn in as the Prime Minister of India ? That is the main question of public importance that the petitioner has raised in this petition brought under Article 32 of the Constitution. According to the petitioner, the first respondent, Shri H. D. Deve Gowda, the present Prime Minister of India, not being a member of either House of Parliament was, under the Constitution, not eligible to be appointed as the Prime Minister of India and the President of India, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, the third respondent, committed a grave and serious Constitutional error in swearing him in as the Prime Minister. This action of the third respondent, says the petitioner, is violative of Articles 14, 21 and 75 of the Constitution and, therefore, void ab initio and deserves to be quashed by an appropriate writ of this Court which may be issued in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 32 of the Constitution. The petitioner has also impleaded the Union of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Muslim League in Lok Sabha (without naming the individual) as respondents 2, 4 and 5 respective