Supreme Court Upholds Election of President Pranab
PURNO Sangma, the defeated candidate had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the election of Mr. Pranab Mukherjee as President of India.
Mr. Ram Jethmalani, Senior Advocate, appearing for the Petitioner, submitted that the Respondent's election as President of India, was liable to be declared as void mainly on the ground that by holding the post of Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, on the date of scrutiny of the nomination papers, the Respondent held an office of profit, which disqualified him from contesting the Presidential election. Mr.Jethmalani urged that apart from holding the office of the Chairman of the aforesaid Institute, the Respondent was also the Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha which had been declared as an office of profit. Urging that since the Respondent was holding both the aforesaid offices, which were offices of profit, on the date of filing of the nomination papers, the Respondent stood disqualified from contesting the Presidential election in view of Article 58(2) of the Constitution.
In a judgement delivered yesterday, the Supreme Court by majority declined to set down the election petition for regular hearing and dismissed the same. Chief Justice Kabir, Justice Sathasivam and Justice SS Nijjar constituted the majority.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi gave a dissenting judgement that No conclusion that a regular hearing in the present case will be a redundant exercise or an empty formality can be reached so as to dispense with the same and terminate the Election Petition at the stage of its preliminary hearing under Order XXXIX Rule The Election Petition, therefore, deserves a regular hearing under Order XXXIX Rule 20 in accordance with what is contained in the different provisions of Part III of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966.
Justice Chelameswar also gave a dissenting order, but his reasons would be pronounced shortly.