TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1971 (11) TMI 166
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....f 1970). R. N. Sachthey and S. P. Nayar, for respondents Nos. 1 and 2 (In C.A. Nos. 2122 and 2123 of 1970) and respondent No. 1 (C.A. No. 2124 of 1970). Khanna, J. Civil Appeal No. 70 of 1971 has been filed by special leave by Shri Sadiq Ali and another against the order of the Election Commission of India (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) under paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Symbols Order'), whereby the Commission held that for the purpose of allotment of symbol in elections the political party presided over by Shri Jagjivan Ram was the Indian National Congress and was entitled to the symbol of "Two Bullocks with Yoke on", reserved for the said Congress. Indian National Congress (hereinafter referred to as the 'Congress') is a recognised National Party under the Symbols Order. The symbol of the "Two Bullocks with Yoke on" was exclusively reserved for the Congress' for the purpose of elections to the Houses of Parliament and the Legislative Assemblies of the States and Union Territories. The Congress is a voluntary association; it is neither a statutory body nor a reg....
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....i Subramaniam including Shri Subramaniam himself, were persons expelled from the Congress and had otherwise ceased to be the members of the Congress. Further, according to the letter of Shri Sadiq Ali, the Commission should not have entertained any communication from a group of people who had formed a new party and were masquerading themselves in the name and style of the Congress. This association of persons, added Shri Sadiq Ali, was neither a splinter group nor a rival section of the Congress. The competence of the Commission to enquire into the matter was also questioned. On 15th January, 1970, a communication was addressed by the Commission to the Secretary of Congress 'J' as well as that of Congress 'O' stating that, "a dispute appears to have arisen as to which of the two groups is. the recognised political party known as the Indian National Congress for the purposes of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968, and the Commission is requried to take a decision in the matter in terms of paragraph 15, read with paragraphs 18, of the said Order. The Commission proposes to afford reasonable opportunities to each group to present its case befo....
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....members of the All India Congress Committee, out of a total of 707, was sent for calling a meeting of the AR India Congress Committee. Shri Nijalingappa then called a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on 1 st November, 1969. Before that, on the night of 31st October, 1969, Shri Nijalingappa declared that Shri Subramaniam, a member of the Congress Working Committee had ceased to be a member of that Committee. Shri Nijalingappa also on that night removed Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed from the membership of the Working Committee,. The, ,above act of Shri Nijalingappa according to the statement, was mala fide, illegal and against the principles of natural justice. According further to the statement submitted on behalf of' Congress 'J', the requisition sent by more than 400 members of All India Congress Committee was received by Shri Nijalingappa on the night of 31st October, 1969 and was turned down by the Working Committee. 17 members of the All India Congress. Committee who were also signatories to the above-mentioned requisition, issued a notice on 5th November, 1969 calling a meeting of the All India Congress Committee to consider the subjects mentioned in the re....
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....The statement added that the Election Commission was the only authority to decide dispute about the allotment of symbol. Prayer was ,accordingly made that the symbol reserved for Congress for the purposes of general elections and bye-elections should be allotted to candidates who would be nominated and declared their alleg- ance to Congress 'J'. A counter-statement was submitted on behalf of Congress 'O' by its General Secretary, Shri Sadiq Ali on 16th February, 1970. The various allegations made in the statement submitted on behalf ,of Congress 'J' were controverted and it was stated that the Election Commission had no jurisdiction to hold the enquiry. According to the counter- statement, the Congress Parliamentary Board in its meeting held in July 1969 decided by majority to put up Shri N. Sanjiva Reddy as candidate for the office of the President of India. The decision of the majority upset Smt. Indira Gandhi. Smt. Indira Gandhi, Shri Jagjivan Ram and Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, at the initial stages of the Presidential election, supported ,the candidature of Shri Sanjiva Reddy but subsequently they started a campaign for the defeat of the, Congress can....
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....t and State Legislatures who declared their allegiance to Congress 'J', the stand taken in the counter statement is that their position was that of defector. A rejoinder and some other applications were thereafter filed. The Commission on 7th March, 1970 framed and settled the following four points for discussion 1. Has the Election Commission jurisdiction within the meaning of paragraph 15 of the Election Symbol (Reservation & Allotment) Order 1968, to decide whether any one or none of the rival sections or groups of the Indian National Congress,. a national party, is the said lndian National :Congress ? 2. Has the Election Commission, for the purpose of undertaking the inquiry to come to a decision as aforesaid, been satisfied on information in its possession that there are two rival sections or groups of the said Indian National Congress each. claiming to be that Congress ? 3. What is the nature of an election symbol under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, and whether an election symbol, whether reserved or free, is property ? 4. Whether, on the facts and circumstances available to the Election Commission, any of the alleged riv....
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....nging to one group by those belonging to the opposite group. Ref erence was also made in this context to the rejection of the requisition sent by some members of Congress 'J' for convening a meeting of the All India Congress Committee. The Commission then considered another test, namely, that based upon the aims and objects as incorporated in the Constitution of the Congress. It was observed that none of the two groups had challenged in any manner or openly repudiated those aims and objects. The test based upon the aims and object was consequently held to be ineffective and neutral. Applying the test of majority, the Commission observed that Congress 'J' had the majority out of the total number of members returned on Congress tickets to the Houses of Parliament as well as the majority out of the sum total of the members of all the Legislatures, returned on Congress tickets although in some States, like Gujarat and Mysore, Congress 'O' had majority in the Legislature. As regards the organisational wing of the Congress, 'the Commission came to the conclusion that Congress 'J' enjoyed majority in the All India Congress Committee as well as amongst t....
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....that paragraph, any association or body of individuals, citizens of India calling itself a political party and intending to avail itself of the provisions of the Order shall make an application to the Commission for its registration as a political party for the purpose of that Order. Sub-paragraph (2) provides the period within which an application has to be made. Exemption from making the application in certain contigency with which we are not concerned is also granted. Sub- paragraphs 3 & 4 specify the formalities and the particulars required for the application. The particulars include the names of the President, Secretary and other office-bearers of the political party, the numerical strength of its members as well as the political principles on which it was based and the policies, aims and objects it pursued or sought to pursue. Power is given to the, Commission under sub-paragraph 5 to call for further particulars. The Commission thereafter decides whether to register the association or body as political party or not. The decision of the Commission in this respect has been made final by sub-paragraph 7. Provision is further made by subparagraph 8 that after the association or....
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....s authorised by the party to send such notice and the name and specimen signature of the president, the secretary or such other office- bearer are communicated in advance to the returning officer of the constituency and to the Chief Electoral Officer of the State". Paragraph 14 gives power to the Commission to issue certain instructions to un-recognised political parties. Paragraph 15 with which we are directly concerned in this case reads as under :- "15. Power of Commission in relation to splinter groups or rival sections of a recognised political party- When the Commission is satisfied on information in its possession that there are rival sections or groups of a recognised political party each of whom claims to be that party, the Commission may, after taking into account all the available facts and circumstances of the case and hearing such representatives of the sections of groups and other persons as desire to be heard, decide that one such rival section or group or none of such rival sections or 8-L500Sup. Cl/72 groups is that recognised political party and the decision of the Commission shall be binding on all such rival sections or groups". The power....
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....ome pictorial representation on the ballot paper itself whereby such voters might identify the candidate of their choice. Symbols were accordingly brought into use. Symbols or emblems are not a peculiar feature of the election law of India. In some countries, details in the form of letters of alphabet or numbers are added against the name of each candidate while in others, resort is made to symbols or emblems. The object is to ensure that the process of election is as genuine and fair as possible and that no elector should suffer from any handicap in casting his vote in favour of a candidate of his choice. Although the purpose which accounts for the origin of symbols was of a limited character, the symbol of each political party with the passage of time acquired a great value because the bulk of the electorate associated the political party at the time of elections with its symbol. It is, therefore no wonder that in case of a split in a political party, there is a keen contest by each rival group to get the symbol of that party. Let us now go back to paragraph 15. The occasion for making an order under this paragraph arises when the Commission is satisfied on information in its ....
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....'J' 'O' ----------------------------------------------------------- 12 34 5 6 I-Parliament 1. Lok Sabha 221 642 28 65 2. Rajya Sabha 103 42 85 40 II-Legislative Assemblies A. States 1 . Andhra Pradesh........... -- -- 175 14 2. Assam..................... -- 75 -- 3. Bihar..................... 81 31 86 28 4. Gujarat................... 5 96 8 108 5. Haryana............... . (no separate group 53 6 in the strength of 48 Congress members) 6. Jammu & Kashmir............ -- -- 61 -- 7. Kerala.................... 4 5 33 4 8. Madhya Pradesh.......... 177 -- 192 -- 9. Maharashtra.............. 204 -- 191 13 10. Mysore..................... 23 126 37 127 11. Nagaland -- -- No party as Indian National Congress. 12. Orissa..................... -- -- 8 3 13. Punjab..................... 28 -- 28 -- 14. Rajasthan.................. 111 1 &....
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....mbay Session, it was further held, assumed importance in view of the fact that all the resolutions passed at the requisitioned meeting of Congress 'J' at Delhi were satisfied unanimously at the Bombay session. For determining as to who were members of AICC and delegates, the Commission accepted those persons as members of AICC and delegates who held that position in the earlier session of the Congress at Faridabad before the split. In view of the removals and expulsions which followed in the wake of split in the Congress, the Commission, in our opinion, adopted proper -approach for determining as to who should be taken to be members of AICC or the delegates, more so, when in the opinion of the Commission, the validity of (hose removals and expulsions was open to question. The figures found by the Commission of the members of the two Houses of Parliament -and of the State Legislatures as well as those of AICC members and delegates who supported Congress 'J' have not been shown to us to be incorrect. In view of those figures, it can hardly be disputed that substantial majority of the members of the Congress in both its legislative wing as well as the organisational....
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....here were the primary members of the Congress. It can, in our opinion, be legitimately considered that the members of, AICC and the delegates reflected by and large the views of the primary members. It is urged by Mr. Shanti Bhushan on behalf of the appellants that 1 1 members of the Congress Working Committee were with Congress 'O' while 1 0 members were with Congress 'J'. The matter, according to the learned counsel, should have been decided in accordance with the majority in the Working Committee. SO far as this aspect is concerned, we find that as it is not always convenient to convene general session of the Congress or a meeting of the AICC, the Congress has its Working Committee which represents the Congress for administrative purposes and for taking decision on political and other matters. Some of the members of the Working Committee are elected by the AICC while others are nominated by the President. The Working Committee has not been shown to possess any power of vetoing the decision of the AICC. On the contrary, major decisions taken by the Working Committee at the time of AICC meetings are placed before the AICC for ratification. In view of the fact th....
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....9;O' in removing and expelling members of the other group was doubtful and open to question. The Commission has also questioned the propriety of the action of the Working Committee in rejecting the requisition sent by the members of AICC for convening meeting of the AICC. It is, in our opinion, not necessary for this Court to express any opinion. for the purpose of this appeal about the validity of the above mentioned removals and expulsions nor is it necessary to express any view about the propriety of the rejection of the requisition. Likewise it is not essential to say anything as to whether one or both the groups were in the wrong and if so, to, what extent in the controversy relating to the split in the Congress. All that this Court is concerned with is whether the test of majority or numerical strength which has been taken into account by the Commission is in the circumstances of the case a relevant and germane test. On that point, we have no hesitation in holding that in the context of the facts and circumstances of the case, the test of majority and numerical strength was not only germane and relevant but a very valuable test. Reference has been made on behalf of the....
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....ection with the elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures and the decision of the Commission pertains to this limited matter. The Commission while deciding the matter under paragraph 15 does not decide dispute about property. 'The proper forum for adjudication of disputes about property are the civil courts. The decision of the Commission under paragraph 15 constitutes a direction to the Returning Officer for the purpose of Rule 10 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961. The said direction shall be binding upon the Returning Officers in accordance with sub- rules (4) and (5) of the abovementioned Rule. Whether the decision of the Commission can be called into question in appropriate proceedings in a Court of law is a matter which does not arise in this case and we need not express any opinion thereon. Contention has also been advanced on behalf of the appellants that Congress 'O' although adhering to Congress aims and objects is deprived of the use of symbol of "Two Bullocks with Yoke on" which had been allotted to the Congress for the purpose of elections. The answer to 'this contention is that as a result of differences and dissensions, a political pa....
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....itual. For manly years, efforts had been made to bring about a union between the Free Church and the United Presbyterian Church, also seceders from the Established Church. In 1900 Acts of Assembly were passed by the majority of the Free Church and unanimously by the United Presbyterian Church for union under the name of the United Free. Church and the Free Church property was conveyed to the new trustees for behoof of the new Church. The United Presbyterian Church was opposed to the Establishment principle, and did not maintain the West- minster Confession of Faith in its entirety. 'the respondents contended that the Free Church had full power to change its doctrines so long as the identity was preserved. The appellants, a very small minority of the Free Church, objected to the union maintaining that the Free Church had no power to change its original doctrines or to unite with a body which did not confess those doctrines. The appellants accordingly complained of breach of trust. It was held that the Establishment principle and the Westminster Confession were distinctive tenets of the Free Church and the Free Church had no power, where property was concerned, to .alter the doct....
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....es has also been made obligatory by rule 5 of Conduct of Election Rules. Sub-rule (4) of rule 10 gives a power to the Commission to issue general or special directions to the Returning Officers in respect of the allotment of symbols. The allotment of symbols by the Returning Officers has to be in accordance with those directions. Sub-rule (5) of rule 10 gives a power to the Commission to revise the allotment of a symbol by the Returning Officers in so far as the said allotment is inconsistent with the directions issued by the Commission. It would, therefore, follow that Commission has been clothed with plenary powers by the above mentioned Rules in the matter of allotment of symbols. The validity of the- said Rules has not been challenged before us. If the Commission is not to be disabled from exercising effectively the plenary powers vested in it in the matter of allotment of symbols and for issuing directions in cnnection therewith, it is plainly essential that the Commission should have the power to settle a dispute in case claim for the allotment of the symbol of a political party is made by two rival claimants. In case, it is a dispute between two individuals, the method for t....