ANANDA LAKSHMI Vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MYSORE DISTRICT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) WRIT petitioners have challenged the order passed by the Deputy commissioner, Mysore District, dated 25-7-2002 declaring them as being disqualified to hold the office of Municipal Councillors, Town Municipal Council, Hunsur. ; briefly stated the facts as gathered from the arguments and the records are: by a Gazette Notification, dated 8-5-2002 in ELN 90 (1) /2000-01, the deputy Commissioner, Mysore, notified 23 persons as elected members for the Town Municipal Council, Hunsur. As per the notification, 9 councillors were from the Indian National Congress (referred to as 'inc' for brevity) including the writ petitioners herein, 8 from the Janata Dal (S), 3 from Bharatiya Janata Party and 3 independents among them being Ambi Sridhar and Hazrath Jan.

(2.) FOR the post of President and the Vice-President of the Hunsur municipal Council, elections were held on 30-12-2001. The INC had set up Smt. Ananda Lakshmi as its candidate for the post of President and sri I ). Narayana, 5th respondent herein, for the post of Vice-President. According to the contesting respondents, a whip was issued by the Congress Party to all the elected Councillors to cast their votes in favour of the official candidates for the post of President and to the post of Vice-President-D. Narayana. The 1st petitioner-Smt. Ananda Lakshmi was unanimously elected as the President. Since both the petitioners herein who were members of the INC Party, contrary to the whip issued, voted against the official candidate D. Narayana and in favour of the Janata dal candidate Kannaiah, the said official candidate D. Narayana was defeated and Kannaiah was elected.

(3.) SUBSEQUENT to the result of the election of President and Vice-President being declared, respondents 3 to 7 herein filed a complaint under Section 3 (l) (b) of the Karnataka Local Authorities (Prohibition of defection) Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as the 'act' for brevity)before the Deputy Commissioner, Mysore for disqualifying the writ petitioners herein as having violated the provisions of the Act. The petitioners herein defended the petition by contending that they and the two councillors-Ambi Sridhar and Hazrath Jan who were also Congress party Members constituted a group consisting of not less than l/3rd of the Congress Party Councillors as a result of split in the Congress Party and they voted for the elected Vice-President Kannaiah, as a separate faction. Therefore, having regard to language of Section 3-A of the Act, they did not suffer any disqualification. Alternatively, they also contended that the issuing of a whip was not in order.