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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
MR. JUSTICE AMIT RAWAL, MR. JUSTICE MURALEE KRISHNA S., JJ
Usha Vijayan, D/o. Padmanabhan – Appellant
Versus
Kerala State Election Commission, Represented By Its Secretary – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
(AMIT RAWAL, J.)
1. Two writ appeals have been preferred against the judgment dated 05.11.2024 arising out of two writ petitions bearing Nos.31465 of 2024 and 31470 of 2024 challenging the order of State Election Commission. Two petitions have been preferred for disqualifying the appellant – writ petitioner, of having voluntarily abandoned the membership and joined the other party after having been elected as a member of Panchayat on the party ticket, one by the District President of the political party Kerala Congress (M) (P.J.Joseph Group) and the other by another member of the council. Both the petitions were contested by the appellant - petitioner and after contest, the State Election Commission accepted the petitions by removing the appellant - petitioner from the post of member of Panchayat and further barring her to contest the election for a period of six(6) years. Writ petitions against the said order have been dismissed and in that background, the writ appeals have been preferred.
2. Succinctly the facts in brief for adjudication of the lis are as under:
In December, 2020, appellant contested the election as a member of Kudayathoor Panchayat under the 'Chenda' symb
A member of a local authority is disqualified for defecting from their political party, as per Section 3 of the Kerala Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, 1999.
When a member stood for the election to contest against a candidate of his own coalition, it can be deemed that the member has voluntarily given up his membership of the political party.
Compliance with statutory procedural requirements is essential to uphold the validity of directives impacting party membership and election outcomes.
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 ....
Section 3(1)(b) of the Act applies only if the elected person is an independent member of the coalition.
There can be many inferences for voluntarily giving up the membership even if one has not resigned; the case at hand is one where the petitioners have all resigned, therefore, no inference need be dr....
A member of local authority is disqualified upon violating party whip, regardless of subsequent elections. Disqualification decision operates from the date of declaration by the Election Commission.
The court emphasized the importance of adhering to party whips and the consequences of voluntary abandonment of party membership under the Kerala Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, 199....
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