( 1 ) ). WHETHER, the holder of the public office by election can be suspended for any pending criminal proceedings, which were initiated prior to election and was not a disqualification for being elected to the office, is the heart and substratum of this referential consideration and adjudication emanated out of the order dated March 21, 1996 by the learned single Judge (Coram : Rajesh Balia, J.), in Special Civil Application No. 10979 of 1995, in whose opinion, in view of the divergent views and discordant opinions between two orders of this Court and since the matter is of general public importance, it was directed to be placed for constituting a Larger Bench, and that is the reason why the Honble Chief Justice has constituted this Larger Bench for the resolution of the aforesaid question.

( 2 ) ). In course of hearing of Special Civil Application No. 10979 of 1995 under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India, rival contentions were raised on behalf of the petitioner. Reliance was placed on the observations made by a division Bench of this Court in Special Civil Application No. 2722 of 1991, decided, on April 23, 1991, while making an interim order, and it was cont