IMPORTANT POINT
A member of a local authority who switches allegiance from a splinter group of a political party is deemed to have voluntarily given up their membership, leading to disqualification under the Kerala Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, 1999.

JUDGMENT :

A.Muhamed Mustaque, ACJ.

Simple question in this appeal arises in the context of disqualification of an elected candidate to the local authority under the Kerala Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, 1999. The question is whether a member of a local authority, who is elected while aligning with a splinter group of a political party, would continue to have the identity of a political party for the purpose of disqualification law applicable for local body.

2. Shri Mathew Joseph, the sole appellant in these cases, was elected as a member of the Thodupuzha Municipality from the P.J. Joseph group. This group was part of the United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition. He switched over to the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the opposite coalition. The rival group of Kerala Congress (M), led by Jose K.Mani, was part of LDF coalition. The Kerala Congress (M) P.J.Joseph Group, led by P.J. Joseph was part of the UDF coalition. Kerala Congress (M) is a political party registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. At the time of the election and after the election to the local body, the Kerala Congress (M) (P.J. Joseph group) was never registered as a political party. However, taking note of the split in the Kerala Congress (M), the two factions were allowed to contest the election on the symbol allotted by the Election Commission. P.J. Joseph was allotted the symbol ‘chenda’. Mathew Joseph contested the election with the symbol ‘chenda’ by declaring allegiance to the Kerala Congress (M), P.J. Joseph group. The P.J. Joseph group later merged with another political party, Kerala Congress having allegiance to the UDF coalition. The Election Commission was of the view that leaving membership of a splinter group cannot be equated like ceasing the membership of a political party. Accordingly, the petitions filed for disqualification were dismissed. On a challenge made before this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution, the learned Single Judge was of the view that the order of the Election Commission was perverse and the application for disqualification being decided on a wrong premise, found Mathew Joseph liable to be disqualified. According to the learned Single Judge, Mathew Joseph had voluntarily given up membership of the Kerala Congress P.J. Joseph group.

3. In this appeal, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant, Mathew Joseph, submitted that the learned Single Judge decided the matter on a wrong understanding of law and recognised the splinter group as a political party for the purpose of disqualification. The learned Senior Counsel submitted that if Kerala Congress P.J. Joseph group is treated as a political party, that would amount to recognising a political party which was never in existence at the time of or after the election. It is submitted that for the purpose of disqualification, the disqualification law will have to be narrowly construed. It is argued that when a specific provision assigns a meaning to a political party in a context, a different meaning cannot be assigned based on the phrase referred to in the definition of political party. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the petitioners before the Election Commission and before this Court would submit that for the purpose of disqualification, there are only two categories of members; one, the category of political party, and the other, the category of independents. It is argued that Mathew Joseph contested election not as an independent but on a specific allotment of symbol ‘chenda’ belonging to P.J. Joseph group. It was submitted that this court in W.P.(C).No.27221/2020 filed by P.J. Joseph and others, ordered that the contestants of the P.J. Joseph group shall not be treated as independent candidates. They were allowed to contest elections as candidates of Kerala Congress (M) P.J. Joseph group under the symbol ‘chenda’.

4. The learned Senior Counsel for the appellant cited the following judgments:

State