Civil Appeal No 3491 of 1979
on appeal by Certificate from the Judgment and order dated 101279 of the Allahabad High Court in WP No 2402 of 1979
71 Appellant in person
A Girish Chandra and RN Poddar for the respondents
The order of the Court was delivered by The appellant had filed a writ petition in the High Court of Allahabad challenging the continuance in office of Shri Charan Singh  as the Prime Minister and Shri SN Kacker as Minister of Law Justice and Company Affairs
Stated briefly the contention of the appellant is that Shri Charan Singh failed to seek the mandate of the Lok Sabha within three weeks after assuming the office of the Prime Minister as directed by the President of India that instead of facing the House he submitted the resignation of his Government on August 20 1979 and that his continuation in office therefore as a caretaker Prime Minister without taking a fresh oath of office was unconstitutional
The writ petition was dismissed by the High Court by a judgment dated December 10 1979 but it has granted a Certificate of fitness to the appellant to file this appeal
It is a well known fact of history that the Government of Shri Charan Singh was in office for a very brief spell
It fell soon after it assumed office indeed too soon the issues raised by the appellant are no longer live and it is not the practice of this Court to decide questions of more academic importance
We must however hasten to add that the High Court is right in its view that Shri Charan Singh s appointment as the Prime Minister could not be said to be conditional upon his seeking a mandate of the Lok Sabha
Our Constitution knows no such hybrid thing as a Prime Minister subjected to a condition of defeasance
Conditions imposed by the President may create considerations of political morality or conventional propriety but not of constitutional validity
The High Court is also right that it was not necessary for Shri Charan Singh and his ministers to take a fresh oath after being called upon by the President to continue in office as a caretaker Government
Thus the continuation in office of Shri Charan Singh and his ministers was not unconstitutional
For these reasons the appsal is dismissed


Summary:
The appellant in his writ petition to the High Court challenged the continuance in office of Shri Charan Singh as the Prime Minister contending that Shri Charan Singh failed to seek the mandate of the Lok Sabhaa within three weeks after assuming the office of the Prime Minister as directed by the President of India that instead of facing the House he submitted the resignation of his Government on August 20 1979 and that his continuation in office thereafter as a caretaker Prime Minister without taking a fresh oath of office was unconstitutional
The High Court dismissed the writ petition but granted a certificate of fitness to appeal to this Court Dismissing the Appeal  HELD 1
The continuation in office of Shri Charan Singh and his ministers was not unconstitutional
71 G 2
It is not the practice of this Court to decide questions of mere academic importance The issues raised by the appellant are no longer live
171 E 3
Our Constitution knows no such hybrid thing as a Prime Minister subject to a condition of defeasance
Conditions imposed by the President may create considerations of political morality or conventional propriety but not of constitutional validity
71 F