The Governor must act on the advice of the Council of Ministers under Article 171(5), with judicial review permitted in cases of ultra vires actions or mala fides.

ORDER :

ALOK ARADHE, J.

(i) INTRODUCTION:

The State Legislature in Telangana is bicameral in nature. It has two Houses of Legislature, namely Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Act, 2005, was enacted to provide for the creation of Legislative Council for the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh and for matters supplemental, incidental and consequential thereto. Section 3 of the said Act provided for creation of Legislative Council for the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh. The erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into two successor States, namely the State of Telangana and the State of Andhra Pradesh. Section 22 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act , 2014, provides that there shall be a Legislative Council for the successor States. Section 23 of the Reorganisation Act, 2014, provides that there shall be 40 seats in the Legislative Council for the State of Telangana. Out of the aforesaid 40 seats, six are to be filled up by the Governor under Article 171(3) read with Article 171(5) and (6) of the Constitution of India.

2. The core issue involved in these writ petitions is about the scope and power of the Governor under Article 171(5) of the Constitution of India to make nominations for the Legislative Council of State of Telangana. In order to appreciate the grievance of the petitioners, relevant facts which lie in narrow compass need mention which are stated infra.

(ii) FACTS:

3. The petitioner in W.P.No.180 of 2024 has LL.B., degree and also has secured two Masters’ Degrees namely, Master of Arts with Specialization in Linguistics and Master of Business Administration. He has also worked as Project Associate with Administrative Staff College of India, wherein he was associated with internationally funded research projects. The petitioner has also served as Senior Assistant Professor in Human Resources Management with the Premier Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad and was awarded Doctorate degree in “Organizational Behavior” from Osmania University. He has also served as Director of Human Resource Development with M/s.Ceeyes Software Technologies Private Limited, and was also associated with M/s.Sierra Atlantic Inc as Associate Director. The petitioner has also served as General Manager (HR) in M/s.Satyam Computer Services Limited. The petitioner, initially, joined in Indian National Congress. However, subsequently, he joined in Telangana Rashtra Samithi, a political party and claims to have functioned as a star campaigner of the party in Hyderabad city. The petitioner in W.P.No.181 of 2024 has Bachelor’s degree in Arts. He was a trade union leader and is a social worker.

4. A meeting of the Council of Ministers was held on 31.07.2023, wherein it was resolved to nominate the petitioners as Members of Legislative Council. However, the Governor by orders dated 19.09.2023 rejected the nomination of the petitioners for the post of Member of Legislative Council under Article 171(5) of the Constitution of India inter alia on the following grounds:

(i) There is no apparent fulfillment of the pre-conditions required under Article 171(5) of the Constitution of India.

(ii) The methodology adopted for consideration of the case of the petitioners has not been enclosed.

(iii) No reports from Intelligence and other agencies indicating that the petitioners have not incurred any disqualification under sub-sections 8 to 11(A) of the Representation of People Act, 1951.

(iv) The summary provided by the petitioners does not indicate any special achievements in Literature, Science, Art, Co-operative Movement and Social Service.

5. In the aforesaid factual background, the writ petitions were filed on 07.12.2023. However, the office raise