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2023 Supreme(Online)(KER) 2381
HIGH COURT OF KERALA
BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J
M.RAJENDRAN – Appellant
Versus
STATE ELECTION COMMISSION – Respondent
WP(C) 36144/2023
SMT.ASWINI SANKAR R.S., SRI.P.YADHU KUMAR, S.SREEKUMAR (SR.), SRI.DEEPU LAL MOHAN, SC, SRI.MARTIN JOSE P, SRI.P.PRIJITH, SRI.THOMAS P.KURUVILLA, SRI.R.GITHESH, SRI.AJAY BEN JOSE, SRI.MANJUNATH MENON, SRI.SACHIN JACOB AMBAT, SMT.ANNA LINDA EDEN, SRI.HARIKRISHNAN S.
A political party's whip, if issued properly and served, binds elected members, and defying it constitutes grounds for disqualification under the relevant Act.
Headnote:
Disqualification - Local Authorities - Kerala Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, 1999 - Sections 3(1)(a), 4(3)
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners, elected members of a local panchayat under a political party, were disqualified by the Election Commission for defying the party's written directions. They contested elections and voted against the official party candidates.
Finding of the Court:
The court upheld the Election Commission's finding that the respondents had defected from the party by violating the whip issued to them, concluding they were disqualified for such actions.
Issues: Whether the respondents' actions constituted a violation of the party whip, leading to their disqualification under the Act.
Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that the service of the whip was valid despite being returned as unclaimed, establishing that actual knowledge of the whip was not required for disqualification.
Final Decision: The writ petitions challenging the Election Commission's disqualification were dismissed.
JUDGMENT
Writ petitioners have been disqualified by the Kerala State Election Commission (for short 'the Election Commission') for violating the directions in writing issued by the political party. Writ petitioners were the respondents in O.P. No.1 of 2022 and O.P. No.2 of 2022, both of which were filed by the second respondent. The Election Commission allowed both original petitions, hence these two writ petitions.
2. The facts of these two writ petitions as revealed from the pleadings and the arguments raised before the Court are briefly narrated below:
The individuals before the Court are Sri.Marsh Peter, Smt.Praveena Ravikumar and Sri.M.Rajendran. They had contested and won from different Wards in the election to the Munnar Grama Panchayat in the year 2020. All three of them were the official candidates of the Indian National Congress (for short 'INC') with the symbol of “hand”. They were part of the coalition of United Democratic Front (for short 'the UDF'). As elected members of the Panchayat, they had given declarations before the Secretary of the Panchayat showing their association with the political party and affirmed that they belonged to the political party INC based on which the register showing the political affiliation was also prepared.
3. Out of a total of 21 Ward Members in the Munnar Grama Panchayat, 11 belonged to the INC under the UDF banner while LDF had 10 members of which 8 belonged to CPI and 2 belonged to CPI(M). Initially, Smt. Manimozhi of the UDF was elected as the President of the Panchayat while Sri. Marsh Peter became the Vice- President, both of whom belonged to the INC. While so, no- confidence motions were brought against the President and the Vice- President of the Panchayat. Smt. Manimozhi resigned before the motion was put to vote and Sri. Marsh Peter was removed through the motion on 10.12.2021.
4. After the no-confidence motion, elections for the new President and Vice-President were scheduled to be held on
03.01.2022. The INC decided to field Smt. Deepa Rajkumar, elected from Ward 3 as its Presidential candidate and Sri. Marsh Peter again as the Vice-Presidential candidate. Directions in writing were issued on 24.12.2021 to all the members belonging to the INC to attend the meeting and to cast their vote in favour of INC candidates in the elections to be held on 03.01.2022. However, Smt.Praveena Ravikumar and Sri. M.Rajendran were reluctant to accept the whip directly in person, and therefore, the whip was sent through registered post on 24.12.2021. Since both of them refused to accept the notice, it was returned as ‘unclaimed’. In the meantime, the whips issued to Smt.Praveena Ravikumar and Sri. M.Rajendran were affixed in their respective residences and also communicated to the Secretary of the Munnar Grama Panchayat. Smt. Praveena Ravikumar, who was elected under the banner of INC, stood as the Presidential candidate against the official candidate of INC.
5. In the elections held on 03.01.2022, the official candidates of INC secured only 9 votes and failed to win the elections. Smt. Praveena Ravikumar not only defied the written directions given by the party but also stood as a candidate nominated by the LDF and won the election. Smt. Praveena Ravikumar and Sri. M.Rajendran voted against the written directions of the INC and voted in favour of the candidates fielded by the LDF resulting in those candidates winning the elections. Sri. Marsh Peter filed O.P. No.1 of 2022 and O.P No.2 of 2022 alleging that Smt. Praveena Ravikumar and Sri.M.Rajendran had become disqualified under section 3(1)(a) of the Kerala Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, 1999 , (for short ' the Act').
6. Sri. Marsh Peter, who was the original petitioner before the Election Commission, is hereafter referred to as the ‘petitioner’ while the original respondents - Smt.Praveena Ravikumar and Sri.M.Rajendran are referred to as ‘respondents’ collectively.
7. In the separate objections filed by the respondents, it
