K ANBAZHAGAN Vs. SECY T N LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in all these Writ Petitions are members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. The Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly passed resolution on 22nd December, 1986 declaring that the petitioners were unfit to continue as members of the House and that they were expelled from the membership of the House and that they could not continue to be members of the House. It was further resolved that their seats became vacant. The resolution passed by the Assembly was on a motion moved by the Leader of the House. The English translation of the resolution original of which was in Tamil as adopted by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on 22nd December, 1986 as published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary of the same date, reads as follows :- "Whereas the Executive Committee of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam resolved in its meeting held on 9th November, 1986 at Coimbatore that the portion of Part XVII of the Constitution of India which provides for Hindi to be the Official Language of the Union should be burnt in Public meetings, to be held between the period commencing on 17th November, 1986 and ending with 17th December, 1986 in various places in the State and it has been publicized in newspapers and public meetings that Constitution burning agitation will be carried on. And whereas in pursuance of the above said resolution, some members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party have burnt in public place a copy of a part of the Constitution of India (such part being a document or paper containing excerpts being either in writing or printing or in any other mode of representation or reproduction in a visible form : And Whereas in pursuance of the above said resolution, the following Members of the Legislative Assembly belonging to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have burnt in public place (on the dates specified against them) a copy of the part of the Constitution of India (such part) being a document or paper containing excerpts of the whole or any part of any Article of the Constitution of India, such excerpts being either in writing, or printing or in any other mode of representation or reproduction in a visible form : <FRM>JUDGEMENT_275_AIR(MAD)_1988Html1.htm</FRM> And whereas the abovesaid conduct of the abovementioned members of this House, apart from being an act of violation of the oath or affirmation made and subscribed as Members bearing true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India under Article 188 of the Constitution of India read with R.4(1) of the Legislative Assembly Rules, is also lowering the regard for the Constitution, the regard for this House constituted by it and the regard which a member of this House should have; and is also derogatory to the dignity of the Constitution as well as the dignity of this House and wholly inconsistent with the standards which this House expects from its Members, this House therefore considers that the abovementioned Members of this House are unfit to be Members of this House on account of their abovesaid conduct. This House after careful consideration resolves that the following Members of this House, viz., :-

(2.) Consequent upon the passing of this resolution a notification also came to be published that the ten members abovenamed had ceased to be members of the Assembly with effect from the 22nd December, 1986 afternoon and that their seats had become vacant with effect from the 22nd of December, 1986 afternoon. The petitioners who are the members of the Assembly expelled from the house have now filed these petitions for a declaration that the resolution expelling them from the House and declaring their seats in the Assembly as vacant was unconstitutional, null and void.

(3.) Among these petitions are two petitions which have been filed in this court viz., W.P. Nos. 857 and 1105 of 1987 which challenge the rulling given by the Speaker of the Assembly on 24-11-1986 expelling seven members of the Legislative Assembly including the petitioners as being null and void. Admittedly as a part of what is styled in the petitions as Anti Hindi Agitation, the D.M.K. party of which the petitioners are members announced their programme of action to highlight its protest against Hindi being the sole official language of the Union. They also announced that the D.M.K. party will burn pieces of papers containing excerpts of Part XVII of the Constitution of India which provides for Hindi being the sole official language. The petitioners claimed to have taken part in the agitation held on 17-11-1986.