IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI ANIL R. DAVE AND HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT PETITION No.9388 of 2008 Between: A. Srinath Reddy S/o. A. Narasimha Reddy R/o. Tirumalagiri Village, Nampalle Mandal, Nalgonda District, Member of the Law Society of England & Wales, working as Solicitor, 150 Heath Road, Hounslow, TW3 2NS, London, United Kingdom, presently came down to Hyderabad .....Petitioner And 1. The Union of India, represented by its Cabinet Secretary, New Delhi. 2. The Election Commission of India, Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi. 3. The State of A.P. represnted by its Principal Secretary, General Administration Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 4. K. Chandrasekhar Rao, S/o. late K. Raghava Rao, R/o. D.No.8-2-220-110/1/3, Road No.14, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh State. 5. B. Vinod Kumar, S/o. B. Muralidhara Rao, R/o. 3-1-178, Kakathiya Nagar Colony, Hanuma Konda, Warangal Dist, Andhra Pradesh State. 6. Daravath Ravinder Naik, S/o. Thavuriya Naik, R/o. 6-3-52/23/702, Warangal Town and Post, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh State. 7. Thakkala Madusudan Reddy, S/o. Charandas Reddy, R/o. Hameedpura Village, Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh State. 8. Dr. Gunde Vijaya Rama Rao, S/o. Chandraiah. R/o. Kammaripeta Village, Dharma Sagar Mandal, Warangal Dsitrict, Andhra Pradesh State. 9. Nayini Narasimha Reddy, S/o. N. Deva Reddy, R/o. D.No.1-7-495, Dayara Market, Musheerabad, Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh State. 10. Kudubula Nagesh, S/o. Narasaiah, R/o.H.No.14-77, Raghavapur Village, Alair Mandal, Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh State. 11. T. Harish Rao, S/o. Satyanarayana Rao, R/o. 2-10-1260, Chaitanya Puri, Karimnagar Town and Post, Karimnagar District, Andhra Pradesh State. 12. Padma Devender Reddy @ Madhavareddygari Padma, W/o. Mdhavareddygari Devender Reddy, R/o. Konapur Village, Ramayampeta Mandal, Medak District. 13. A. Chandra Sekhar, S/o. Late Balaiah, R/o. Vikarabad Town and Post, Ranga Reddy District, Andhra Pradesh State. 14. Ajmeera Govinda Naik, S/o. Fakeer Das Naik, R/o. Lingapur Village, Dandepalle Mandal, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh State. 15. T. Padma, S/o. T. Eshwaraiah, R/o.7-2-252/4, Ashok Nagar, Takara Basthi, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh State. 16. Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy, S/o. Ramakrishna Reddy, R/o. Housing Road Colony, Hyderabad Road, G.P. Prasanth Nagar, Siddipet Mandal, Medak District, Andhra Pradesh State. 17. Lakshmi Kantha Rao S/o. Sreenivasa Rao R/o. Huyudabad Mandal, Karimnagar District, Andhra Pradesh State. 18. Koppula Eswar, Madaram Village and Mandal, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh State. 19. Eanugu Ravinder Reddy, S/o. late Raji Reddy, R/o. Yerrapahad Village, Tadwai Mandal, Nizamabad District, Andhra Pradesh State. 20. Kammampathi (Kambampathi) Lakshmana Reddy, S/o. Venkata Reddy, R/o. Muduchekkalapalle village, H.No.Govindpur, Nallabelly Mandal, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh State. 21. Kommuri Pratap Reddy, S/o. Narayana Reddy, R/o. H.No.5-3, Narasaipalle Village, Muddur Mandal, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh State. 22. Etela Rajendar, S/o. Mallaiah, R/o. Kandapur Village and Town and Mandal, Karimnagar District, Andhra Pradesh State. 23. Gaddam Ganga Reddy, S/o. Raja Reddy, H.No.3-16, Deshpalle Village, Jakranpalle Mandal, Nizamabad District, Andhra Pradesh State. .....Respondents Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue writ of writ mandamus directing the respondent No.2 not to issue Election Notification which is due on 5-5- 2008 for the 4 Lok Sabha and 16 Assembly Constituencies and disqualify the respondents No.4 to 23 from contesting any elections to be conducted by the 2nd respondent. Counsel for the petitioner : Sri A. Srinath Reddy, Party-in-Person Counsel for respondent No.1 : Sri A. Rajasekhar Reddy, Assistant Solicitor General. Counsel for respondent No.2 : Sri C.P. Sarathy, Senior Advocate. Counsel for respondent No.3 : Government Pleader for General Administration. Counsel for respondent Nos.4 to 23 : None. The Court made the following : ORDER: (per Anil R. Dave, C.J.) This is a public interest litigation wherein the petitioner has prayed for the following relief: “……………..to issue writ of mandamus directing respondent No.2 not to issue Election Notification which is due on 5-5-2008 for the 4 Lok Sabha and 16 Assembly Constituencies and disqualify respondents No.4 to 23 from contesting any elections to be conducted by the 2nd respondent…………….” The petitioner has appeared in person. He is aggrieved by the election, which is to be held on 5th May, 2008 for 4 Members of Parliament and 16 Members of Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh. The petitioner has submitted that in fact, there are no casual vacancies, but there are only vacancies, which cannot be filled up by holding election in the month of May, 2008. According to him, when a Member of Parliament or Legislative Assembly submits his resignation, it cannot be treated as a casual vacancy and, therefore, it is not open to respondent No.2 to issue a notification for holding election. For the aforesaid reason, according to him, the notification, whereby election is to be conducted on 5th May, 2008 should be declared to be invalid. We are not in agreement with the aforesaid submission made by the petitioner for the reason that there is a provision with regard to submission of resignation by a Member of Parliament or a Member of Legislative Assembly. If the resignation of a Member of Parliament is accepted, according to the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951, his seat will become vacant and in such a case, election is to be held for filling up the vacancy. There is a similar provision with regard to Members of Legislative Assembly. Therefore, the submission of the petitioner that upon submission of resignation by a Member, no vacancy arises, is not correct. Thereafter, the petitioner has submitted that the concerned respondents, who were once upon a time Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly and who had submitted their resignations, which have been accepted, are not loyal to the country because they did not act as per the oath taken by them. According to him, they could not have submitted resignation. We are not in agreement with the above submission for the reason that there is a provision with regard to submitting resignation in the Constitution. If there is a provision with regard to submission of resignation, it cannot be said that submission of resignation and acceptance thereof would be bad in law. Therefore, it cannot be said that a Member of Parliament or a Member of Legislative Assembly cannot submit his/her resignation. It has further been submitted that in the larger public interest, the election should not be notified for the reason that in the moth of May i.e. during summer, it would be very hot and it would not be in the interest of the public at large to go out of their houses or offices to cast votes as it might adversely affect their health. We are not in agreement with the aforesaid submission for the reason that election is to be held in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of People Act and respondent No.2 determines the date for holding election, which cannot be said to be invalid. Lastly, the petitioner has relied on the judgment delivered in the case of Election Commission of India v. State of Haryana[1]. He has submitted that according to the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the aforesaid judgment, election should not be held. According to us, the judgment relied on by the petitioner is not relevant to the subject matter of the petition. We do not see any merit in the arguments of the petitioner and, therefore, the petition is dismissed. ANIL R. DAVE, C.J. 28th April, 2008 R.SUBHASH REDDY, J. ….REGISTRAR To 1. The Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, New Delhi. 2. The Secretary, Election Commission of India, Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi. 3. The Principal Secretary, General Administration Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 4. Two copies to the Govt. Pleader for General Administration, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT). 5. Sri A. Rajasekhar Reddy, Asst. Solicitor General, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OPUC). 6. Two C.D. copies. ARS [1] AIR 1984 SC 1406