P.RAMAMOORTHI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an application under Article 226 of the Constitution for the issue of a writ of certiorari to call for the records and quash the order of his Excellency the Governor of Madras made in G. O. Ms. No. 1005 Public (Elections) dated 31st March 1952. The said order runs as follows: 'In pursuance of Clauses 3 (e) & (5) of Article 171 of the Constitution of India, I, Sri Prakasa3 Governor of Madras, hereby nominate the following persons to be members of the Madras Legislative Council: 1. Sri Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari

(2.) JANAB Mahammad Usman

(3.) SRI Omandur P. Ramaswami Reddiar.' The petitioner is a citizen of India and one of the members of the Madras Legislative Assembly elected on the Communist's Party ticket in the recent general elections held in January 1952. In this application he attacks in particular the nomination of the second respondent, namely, Sri C. Rajagopalachari on several grounds. In view of our decision that the application is not sustainable at the instance of the petitioner in this case, it is not necessary to set out except in the barest outline the several grounds on which the validity of the nomination is impugned. 2. It was first alleged that the nomination is virtually in exercise of fraud of the powers conferred by the Constitution on the Governor, because the nomination was made with the ulterior object of assisting the Congress Legislature party. The next ground on which the validity of the nomination is challenged is that the Governor cannot exercise the power of making the nominations under Article 171(3)(e)(5) of the Constitution except on the advice of the Council of Ministers and having regard to the fact that the nominations