Case: Purno Agitok Sangma Vs. Pranab Mukherjee

car at State expense. 59. Similar was the view expressed in Jaya Bachchans case (supra) where also this Court observed that what was relevant was whether the office was capable of yielding a profit or pecuniary gain, other then reimbursement of out-of-pocket/actual expenses and not whether the person actually received any monetary gain or did not withdraw the emoluments to which he was entitled. In other words, whether a person holding a post accepted the benefits thereunder was not material, what was material is whether the said office was capable of yielding a profit or pecuniary gain. 60. In the instant case, the office of Chairman of the Institute did not provide for any of the amenities indicated hereinabove and, in fact, the said office was also not capable of yielding profit or pecuniary gain. 61. In regard to the office of the Leader of the House, it is quite clear that the Respondent had tendered his resignation from membership of the House before he filed his nomination papers for the Presidential election. The controversy that the Respondent had resigned from the membership of the Indian National Congress and its Central Working Committee allegedly on 25th June, 2012, was set at rest by the affidavit filed by Shri Pradeep Gupta, who is the Private Secretary to the President of India. In the said affidavit, Shri Gupta indicated that through inadvertence he had supplied the date of the Congress Working Committee meeting held on 25th June, 2012, to bid farewell to Shri Mukherjee on his nomination for the Presidential Election being accepted. In any event, the disqualification contemplated on account of holding the post of Leader of the House was with regard to the provisions of Article 102(1)(a) of the Constitution, besides being the position of the leader of the party in the House which did not entail the holding of an office of profit under the Government. In any event, since the Respondent tendered his resignation from the said post prior to filing of his nomination papers, which was duly acted upon by the Speaker of the House, the challenge thrown by the Petitioner to the Respondents election as President of India on the said ground loses its relevance. In any event, the provisions of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, as amended in 2006, excluded the post of Chairman of the Institute as a disqualification from being a Member of Parliament. 62. The Constitutional Scheme, as mentioned in the Explanation to Clause (2) of Article 58 of the Constitution, makes it quite clear that for the purposes of said Article, a person would not be deemed to hold any office of profit, inter alia, by reason only that he is a Minister either for the Union or for any State. Article 102 of the Constitution contains similar provisions wherein in the Explanation to clause (1) it has been similarly indicated that for the purposes of the said clause, a person would not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State by reason only that he is a Minister, either for the Union, or for such State. The argument that the aforesaid provisions of Article 102, as well as Article 58 of the Constitution, could not save a person elected to the office of President from disqualification, if he held an office of profit, loses much of its steam in view of the fact that as would appear from the materials on record, the Respondent was not holding any office of profit either under the Government or otherwise at the time of filing his nomination papers for the Presidential election. 63. The various decisions cited on behalf of the parties in support of their respective submissions, clearly indicate that in order to be an office of profit, the office must carry various pecuniary benefits or must be capable of yielding pecuniary benefits such as providing for official accommodation or even a chauffeur driven car, which is not so in respect of the post of Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, which was, in fact, the focus and raison detere of Mr. Jethmalanis submissions. 64. We are also not inclined to accept Mr. Jethmalanis submissions that once a person is appointed as Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, the Rules and Bye-laws of the Society did not permit him to resign from the post and that he had to continue in the post against his wishes. There is no contractual obligation that once appointed, the Chairman would have to continue in such post for the full term of office. There is no such compulsion under the Rules and Bye-laws of the Society either. In any event, since the holder of the post of Chairman of the Institute has been excluded from disqualification for contesting the Presidential election, by the 2006 amendment to Section 3 of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, the submissions of Mr. Jethmalani in this regard is of little or no substance. 65. We are not convinced that in the facts and circumstances of the case, the Election Petition deserves a full and regular hearing as contemplated under Rule 20 of Order XXXIX of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966. Consequently, Mr. Jethmalanis submissions regarding the applicability of Section 141 of the Code of Civil Procedure for trial of the Election Petition is of no avail. We are also not convinced that Section 141 of the Code is required to be incorporated into a proceeding taken under Order XXXIX of the Supreme Court Rules read with Part II of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, which includes Sections 14 to 20 of the aforesaid Act and Article 71 of the Constitution of India. 66. It may not be inappropriate at this stage to mention that this Court has repeatedly cautioned that the election of a candidate who has won in an election should not be lightly interfered with unless circumstances so warrant. 67.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]There is some doubt as to whether the Office of the Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute is an office of profit or not, even though the same has been excluded from the ambit of Article 102 of the Constitution by the provisions of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, as amended in 2006. Having been included in the Table of posts saved from disqualification from membership of Parliament, it must be accepted to be an office of profit. However, as argued by Mr. Salve, categorising the office as an ?office of profit? did not really make it one, since it did not provide any profit and was purely honorary in nature. There was neither any salary nor honorarium or any other benefit attached to the holder of the said post. It was not such a post which, in fact, was capable of yielding any profit, which could make it, in fact, an office of profitprofit. Thevarious decisions cited on behalf of the parties in support of their respective submissions, clearly indicate that in order to be an office of profit, the office must carry various pecuniary benefits or must be capable of yielding pecuniary benefits such as providing for official accommodation or even a chauffeur driven car, which is not so in respect of the post of Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, which was, in fact, the focus and raison detere of Mr. Jethmalanis submissions58. Thevarious decisions cited on behalf of the parties in support of their respective submissions, clearly indicate that in order to be an office of profit, the office must carry various pecuniary benefits or must be capable of yielding pecuniary benefits such as providing for official accommodation or even a chauffeur driven car, which is not so in respect of the post of Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, which was, in fact, the focus and raison detere of Mr. Jethmalanis submissionsWe are also not inclined to accept Mr. Jethmalanis submissions that once a person is appointed as Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, the Rules and Bye-laws of the Society did not permit him to resign from the post and that he had to continue in the post against his wishes. There is no contractual obligation that once appointed, the Chairman would have to continue in such post for the full term of office. There is no such compulsion under the Rules and Bye-laws of the Society either. In any event, since the holder of the post of Chairman of the Institute has been excluded from disqualification for contesting the Presidential election, by the 2006 amendment to Section 3 of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, the submissions of Mr. Jethmalani in this regard is of little or no substanceWe are not convinced that in the facts and circumstances of the case, the Election Petition deserves a full and regular hearing as contemplated under Rule 20 of Order XXXIX of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966. Consequently, Mr. Jethmalanis submissions regarding the applicability of Section 141 of the Code of Civil Procedure for trial of the Election Petition is of no avail. We are also not convinced that Section 141 of the Code is required to be incorporated into a proceeding taken under Order XXXIX of the Supreme Court Rules read with Part II of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, which includes Sections 14 to 20 of the aforesaid Act and Article 71 of the Constitution of India