UMAPATHI S. Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner claiming to be a public spirited citizen, is knocking at the doors of this court seeking a Writ of Quo Warranto against the private respondents herein who have been appointed by the respondent-State Government as Political Secretaries, Chief Advisor and Media Advisor to the Hon'ble Chief Minister. The orders of the appointment of these respondents dtd. 1/6/2023 and 22/5/2023 are produced and marked as Annexures-A to D.

(2.) Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner argues that the appointment of the private respondents with the status of Cabinet Rank is without jurisdiction and unconstitutional. In support of his contention, he heavily banks upon Article 164(1A) of the Constitution of India which prescribes that the total number of Ministers including the Chief Minister in a State shall not exceed 15% of the total number of Members of the Legislative Assembly. The counsel submits that this ceiling limit is breached by the appointments in question. Learned Additional Government Advocate appearing for the respondent Nos.1 and 2 opposes the same contending that the provisions of Article 164 are not invokable inasmuch as none of the private respondents has been appointed as the Minister and therefore, petition is unworthy of consideration.

(3.) We have heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned Additional Government Advocate appearing for the official respondents. We decline indulgence in the matter broadly agreeing with the submission made by the learned AGA. Article 164 provides for the appointment of Chief Minister by the Governor and of other Ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister. Clause (1A) of this Article which has been introduced by 91st Amendment Act, 2003 w.e.f. 1/1/2004 prescribes the ceiling limit as to the number of Ministers in a State. The text of the said clause is as under: