ALAPPEY ASHARAF Vs. CHIEF MINISTER AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ petition filed in public interest, the petitioner invokes the extra ordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Art.226 of the Constitution of India against respondents 3 to 6 stating that they are the Ministers in the State Cabinet, who have taken oath in terms of the Third Schedule to the Constitution of India. According to the petitioner, the Chief Minister had convened a Cabinet meeting at 8 a.m. on 15/11/2017, and the Cabinet had taken several important policy decisions, it is alleged that the aforesaid respondents abstained / boycotted from the Cabinet due to political reasons. It is alleged that the third respondent had also handed over a letter to the Chief Minister stating that their party had decided to abstain from the meeting of the Cabinet. Exhibit P1, a news report that appeared in the Hindu daily dated 16/11/2017 is produced in support of the aforesaid averments. The petitioner states that the aforesaid alleged act of abstinence / boycotting amounts to breach of oath of office taken by respondents 3 to 6, entitling him to seek the following reliefs from this Court:

(2.) On this petition, we heard the learned Senior Counsel Shri. K. Ramakumar. According to Shri. K. Ramakumar, this is a case where breach of oath of office is admitted and in such a situation the petitioner is entitled to reliefs sought for. In support of his plea, the learned counsel referred to the judgments of the Apex Court in B. R. Kapur v. State of T. N. and Another, 2001 KHC 937 and Amarinder Singh v. Special Committee, Punjab Vidhan Sabha and others, 2010 KHC 6193 and of the Full Bench of this Court in K. C. Chandy v. R. Balakrishna Pillai, 1985 KHC 170 .

(3.) We have considered the submissions made by him. In sum and substance, the case of the petitioner is that by abstaining / boycotting the Cabinet meeting of 15/11/2017 at the dictates of their political leaders, respondents 3 to 6 have violated the oath of office, by which they have sworn to act without fear, favour, affection or ill - will. To our mind, in this factual background, the first question to be considered is whether a writ petition filed with a prayer for writ of quo warranto can be entertained at all.