Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2019 Supreme(SC) 1254

N.V.RAMANA, SANJIV KHANNA, KRISHNA MURARI
SHRIMANTH BALASAHEB PATIL – Appellant
Versus
HON’BLE SPEAKER, KARNATAKA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY – Respondent

Advocates Appeared:
For the Petitioner(s):Mukul Rohatgi, Diksha Rai, Shubhranshu Padhi, Kush Chaturvedi, Palak Mahajan, Ishan Bisht, Ragini Pandey, Mukul Rohatgi, Shubhranshu Padhi, Sandeep Patil, Kush Chaturvedi, Priyashree, Ashish Yadav, Rakshit Jain, Apoorv Singhal, Aryama Sundaram, Vikram Hegde, Shantanu Lakhotia, Sajan Poovayya, Vikram Hegde, Shantanu Lakhotia, Kashi Vishweshwar, Pratibhanu Kharola, Raksha Agarwal, T. V. Ratnam, Deverajegowda G., Advocates
For the Respondent(s):Tushar Mehta, SG Mishra Saurabh, Kapil Sibal, Devadutt Kamat, Shashikiran Shetty, Sunil Fernandes, Nizam Pasha, Rajesh Inamdar, Javedur Rehman, Priyansha Indra Sharma, Aditya, Ashwin G.Raj, Shreenidhi, Dr. Rajeev Dhavan, Sunil Fernandes, Siddhi P., Priyansha Indra Sharma, Shashi Kiran Shetty, Mahesh Thakur, Sheffali Chaudhary, Anuparna Bordoloi, Mrs. Vipasha Singh, Vybhav Ramesh, Amit Sharma, Dipesh Sinha, Pallavi Barua, Ayiala Imiti, Prateek Kumar, Advocates

Judgement Key Points

Key Points: - The Speaker’s orders under the Tenth Schedule are subject to limited judicial review (jurisdictional errors, mala fides, violation of natural justice, perversity) but remain reviewable under Article 32/226 (!) (!) (!) (!) - Resignation acceptance is required by the 33rd Amendment; the Speaker may accept or reject resignation based on whether it is voluntary or genuine, with such satisfaction subject to objective material and judicial review (!) (!) (!) (!) - Disqualification under the Tenth Schedule relates back to the act of defection and does not automatically bar contesting elections; the Court held the Speaker cannot extend disqualification till the end of the term as a general rule; duration of disqualification for the term was struck down as ultra vires (partially severed) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!)

What is the jurisdiction and scope of judicial review available against Speaker’s disqualification orders under the Tenth Schedule?

What is the permissible scope of the Speaker’s inquiry into resignation under Article 190(3)(b) and Rule 202, and when can a resignation be rejected or accepted?

What is the effect and duration of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule, and can the Speaker disqualify a member till the end of the term?

JUDGMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction	A
Contentions	B
Issues	C
Maintainability of Writ Petition	D
Rejection of Resignations	E
Disqualification Proceedings After Resignation	F
Validity of Disqualification order	G
Power of the Speaker to direct disqualification till the expiry of the term	H
Reference to Constitution Bench	I
Individual Cases	J
Conclusions	K

N.V. RAMANA, J.

A. INTRODUCTION

1. Reflecting on Indian parliamentary democracy, the words of André Béteille, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, need to be observed:

“In a parliamentary democracy, the obligations of constitutional morality are expected to be equally binding on the government and the opposition. In India, the same political party treats these obligations very differently when it is in office, and when it is out of it. This has contributed greatly to the popular perception of our political system as being amoral… [André Béteille, ‘Constitutional Morality’, Economic and Political Weekly, Volume 43 (40) (4th October 2008).]”

Although the framers of the Constitution

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2019 Supreme(SC) 1254

N.V.RAMANA, SANJIV KHANNA, KRISHNA MURARISHRIMANTH BALASAHEB PATIL – AppellantVersusHON’BLE SPEAKER, KARNATAKA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY – Respondent

What is the jurisdiction and scope of judicial review available against Speaker’s disqualification orders under the Tenth Schedule?

What is the permissible scope of the Speaker’s inquiry into resignation under Article 190(3)(b) and Rule 202, and when can a resignation be rejected or accepted?

What is the effect and duration of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule, and can the Speaker disqualify a member till the end of the term?

Cases Referred (28)

N.V.RAMANA, SANJIV KHANNA, KRISHNA MURARI
SHRIMANTH BALASAHEB PATIL – Appellant
Versus
HON’BLE SPEAKER, KARNATAKA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY – Respondent