Kurian Joseph, J.

Politics without principle is one of the seven capital sins to be deprecated, according to the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Political defection is one of the grave vices in that group. In the statement of objects and reasons for the Fifty-second Amendment to the constitution introducing Tenth Schedule in order to prevent frequent political defects, it is stated as follows: -

“The evil of political defections has been a matter of national concern. If it is not combated, it is likely to undermine the very foundations of our democracy and the principles which sustain it.”

While upholding the constitutional validity of the Tenth Schedule, the Supreme Court in Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu, 1992 Supp. (2) SCC 651 observed as follows: -

“A political party goes before the electorate with a particular programme and it sets up candidates at the election on the basis of such programme. A person who gets elected as a candidate set up by a political party is so elected on the basis of the programme of that political party…If a member while remaining a member of the political party which had set him up as a candidate at the election votes or abstains from votin