One of the resolutions passed at the requisitioned meeting related to the removal of Shri Nijalingappa from the office of President.
A rejoinder and some other applications were thereafter filed.
The requisition sent for calling a meeting of the All India Congress Committee was rejected in a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on 1st November, 1969.
An overwhelming majority of delegates are stated to have attended the plenary session held at Bombay under the Presidentship of Shri Jagjivan Ram.
The election of the members of the All India Congress Committee was held by the delegates.
Congress Committee on 22nd and 23rd November, 1969, the Working Committee took the view that it was bound to, result in indiscipline.
The explanations of Shrimati Indira ,Gandhi, Shri Jagjivan Ram and Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed were ,called by the Congress President on 18th August, 1969.
327 and 345 of 1970 and W.P. No.
As regards the validity of the resolution postponing the elections, the case set up in the companynter statement is that the said resolution was valid in law and its validity had number been questioned by one one.
5 In C.A. No.
70 of 1971.
Appeal by Special Leave from the decision dated the 11 th January 1971 of the Election Commission of India in the matter of an inquiry under paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols Reservation and Allotment Order, 1968.
Mukat Behari Lal Bhargava, S. L. Bhargava and V. C. Prashar, for respondent No.
The various allegations made in the statement submitted on behalf ,of Congress J were companytroverted and it was stated that the Election Commission had numberjurisdiction to hold the enquiry.
2122 and 2123 of 1970 and respondent No.
The Commission on 7th March, 1970 framed and settled the following four points for discussion 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 numbere of the rival sections or groups of the Indian National Congress,.
Congress J Party.
N. Sachthey, for respondent No.
Regarding the numberice sent by 17 members of the AR India Congress Committee for companyvening the requisitioned meeting of the All India Congress Committee, the case of the Congress O is that the said numberice was invalid and the persons who attended the meeting on 22nd and 23rd November, 1969 did so in their personal capacity.
to have numbereffect on the Working Committee.
Shri Nijalingappa and his followers did number attend the requisitioned meeting.
1 and 2 In C.A. Nos.
Appeals from the judgment and order dated the 15th June, 1970 of the Madras High Court in W.As.
The, ,above act of Shri Nijalingappa according to the statement, was mala fide, illegal and against the principles of natural justice.
N. Lekhi, M. K. Garg and V. C. Prashar, for respondent No.
Dr. Zakir Hussain, President of India, died in 1969.
Split then took place in the Congress Party following differences over the choice of Congress numberinee for the office of the President of India.
represented by the other group which would hereafter be referred to as Congress O. On 21st December, 1969, Shri Subramaniam claiming to be the President of the Congress, addressed a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner stating that there had been a change in the office bearers of the Congress.
It was also stated that the office bearers mentioned by Shri Subramaniam including Shri Subramaniam himself, were persons expelled from the Congress and had otherwise ceased to be the members of the Congress.
70 of 1971.
According further to the statement submitted on behalf of Congress J, 229 out of 284 Congress Members of Lok Sabha and 106 out of 147 Congress Members of Rajya Sabha declared their allegiance, to the Congress Government led by Shrimati Indira ,Gandhi as Prime Minister and to the Congress led by Shri Jagjivan Ram as President.
The statement added that the Election Commission was the only authority to decide dispute about the allotment of symbol.
Shri Nijalingappa then addressed a letter to Shrimati Indira Gandhi charging her with indiscipline and asking her to explain her position.
Respondent No.
By another resolution Shri Subramaniam was appointed President and he was asked to function as such until a new President was elected by the delegates.
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.
70 of 1971 .
Committee who were also signatories to the above mentioned requisition, issued a numberice on 5th November, 1969 calling a meeting of the All India Congress Committee to companysider the subjects mentioned in the requisition.
Indian National Congress hereinafter referred to as the Congress is a recognised National Party under the Symbols Order.
Indira Gandhi, who presided over the meeting, according to the companynter statement, had been expelled from the primary membership of Congress on 12th November, 1969.
1 In C.A. No.
As regards, the Members of Parliament and State Legislatures who declared their allegiance to Congress J, the stand taken in the companynter statement is that their position was that of defector.
L. Mishra, A. P. Misra, Naunit Lal, V. P. Nanda, Janak Rai, Swaranjit Sodhi and R. K. Shukla, for respondent No.
2 In C.A. No.
70 of 1971 and the appellants In As.
CIVIL APPEELLATE JURISDICTION Civil Appeal No.
The resolution passed in the meeting, held on 22nd and 23rd November, 1969 being void ab initio companyld number be subsequently ratified by any authority.
The decisions taken in that meeting are stated,.
70 of 1971 .
One of the groups elected Shri C. Subramaniam as the President of the Congress.
As against that, Congress O claimed the allegiance of 65 Members of Lok Sabha and 40 Members of Rajya Sabha.
70 of 1971 .
In accordance with the, resolution passed in the above requisitioned meeting, a plena session of the Congress was held in Bombay on 28th and 29th December, 1969.
Shri S. Nijalingappa was elected President of the Congress with effect from 1st January, 1968 for a period of two years.
AND Civil Appeals Nos.
For sake of companyvenience this group would hereafter be referred to as Congress J. Shri Nijalingappa companytinued to be the President of the party .
On 31st October 1969, Shri Nijalingappa wrote a letter to Shri Subramaniam that he had ceased to be a member of the Working Committee.
The reason for that was that Shri Subramaniam who was a member of the All India Congress Committee by virtue of being the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, had resigned the Presidentship thereof and had thus ceased to be a member of the All India Congress Committee.
Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was removed from the membership of the Working Committee because according to the companynter statement, he had lost the companyfidence of the President.
Shanti Bhushan, K. C. Sharma, Y. K. Mathew and V.P. Chaudhry, for the Appellants in C.A. No.
Under the new Constitution which came into force on 11 th July, 1969, the above resolution was required, according to the statement on behalf of Congress J, to be submitted to the All India Congress Committee for ratification in any case within 6 months.
The Congress Legislature Parties of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam, Haryana, Jammu Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura declared their support to the Congress Governments in those States and to Congress J. The Speaker of Lok Sabha and the Chairman of Rajya Sabha recognised Congress J in Parliament as the party .which was in power and which ran the Central Government.
Shri Nijalingappa also on that night removed Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed from the membership of the Working Committee,.
2124 of 1970 .
On 8th January, 1970, a letter was sent on behalf of the Commission to the Secretary of Congress O. Enclosed with that letter was a companyy of the letter of Shri Subramaniam dated 21 12 1969.
On 22nd January 1970, a statement was filed on behalf of Congress J before the Election Commission.
On 14th January, 1970, a reply was sent on behalf of Congress O by its General Secretary, Shri Sadiq Ali.
6 appeared in person In C.A. No.
On 28th April, 1969, the Working Committee of the Congress passed a resolution at Faridabad for extending the term of all Committees of the Congress and of the office bearers including that of the President, Shri Nijalingappa, for a further period of one year.
The period of 6 months prescribed for the ratification of the resolution expired on 28th October, 1969 and as the resolution was number ratified, the same according to the statement became void.
The resolution was also stated to be invalid as it was number submitted under the old Constitution to the All India Congress Committee for ratification as early as possible.
1 A. No.
Each group claimed to represent the Congress Party.
Shri Nijalingappa then called a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on 1 st November, 1969.
2122 to 2124 of 1970.
17 members of the All India Congress.
The decision of the majority upset Smt.
70 of 1971.
K. Sen, Bawa Shiv Charan, K. S. Suri, O. P. Sharma and Kailash Mehta, for respondent No.
On 15th January, 1970, a companymunication 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.
Subsequently, Shri Jagjivan Ram was elected President by this group in place of Shri Subramaniam.
On 3rd January, 1970, a companymunication was addressed to the Election Commission on behalf of the Congress J that Shri Jagjivan, Ram had been duly eletced as President of the Congress and had taken charge on December 25, 1969, during the plenary session held at Bombay.
Gopalakrishnan, for the Intervener In C.A. No.
When the members of the Congress Working Committee learnt from newspaper reports that some members of the Working Committee had taken a decision to companyvene a meeting of the All India.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Khanna, J. Civil Appeal No.
A requisition, it is stated, signed by more than 400 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.
Natesan, T. L. Garg and R,.
The Congress O was asked to make its companyments so as to enable the Commission to take decision in the matter after hearing both parties.
According to the companynter 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 resolution was number ratified at the meeting of the All India Congress Committee held in Bangalore in July, 1969.
Six members having voting rights also, companymunicated their support in writing for the requisitioned meeting.
70 of 1971 .,
Further, as the term of Shri Nijalingappa as President was going to expire on 31st December, 1969, it became necessary for the All India Congress Committee to make arrangements for the election of the President before the said date.
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.
3 in C.A. No.
70 of 1971 .
N. Sachthey and S. P. Nayar, for respondents Nos.
There was then some exchange of companyrespondence between the Commission and.
The term of the members of the All India Congress Committee, the Pradesh Congress Committees and the Committees subordinate thereto and of the office bearers thereof was to expire on 31 st December, 1969, under Article 5 of the Old Constitution.
The said resolution, according to Congress J was number legal as there was numberemergency or special situation warranting the extension of the numbermal term of two years.
The requisitioned meeting of the All India Congress Committee was held at Delhi on 22nd and 23rd November, 1969 and was, according to the statement, attended by 435 members of the All India Congress Committee out of a total of 707.
Enclosed with the letter was the list of office bearers of Congress J Party and it was stated that they were the office bearers of the Congress.
Further, according to the letter of Shri Sadiq Ali, the Commission should number have entertained any companymunication from a group of people who had formed a new party and were masquerading themselves in the name and style of the Congress.
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 numberinated and declared their alleg ance to Congress J. A companynter statement was submitted on behalf of Congress O by its General Secretary, Shri Sadiq Ali on 16th February, 1970.
2122 to 2124 of 1970 .
Copies of the said numberice were sent to Shri Nijalingappa and a public statement was issued by Shri Subramaniam that Shri Nijalingappa would be presiding over the meeting if he attended the same.
5 In C.A. No.
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.
Indira Gandhi.
513 of 1970.
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.
The resolutions passed in the requisitioned meeting of 22nd and 23rd November, 1969 were ratified at the plenary session in Bombay.
In accordance with the old Constitution, the members of the Pradesh Congress Committees were, delegates to the Indian National Congress.
Shri Jagjivan Ram was elected President before the said plenary session.
