Case: D.Sanjeevayya Vs. Election Tribunal Andhra Pradesh &amp; Ors

another and the provisions of one section cannot be used to defeat those of another unless it is impossible to effect reconciliation between them. The principle stated in Crawfords Statutory Construction at p. 260 is as follow:"Hence, the Court should, when it seeks the legislative intent, construe all of the constituent parts of the statute together, and seek to ascertain the legislative intention from the whole Act, considering every provision thereof in the light of the general purpose and object of the Act itself, and endeavouring to make every part effective, harmonious, and sensible. This means, of course, that the Court should attempt to avoid absurd consequences in any part of the statute and refuse to regard any word, phrase, clause or sentence superfluous, unless such a result in clearly unavoidable."5. It is, therefore, not permissible, in the present case, to interpret S. 150 of the Act in isolation without reference to Part III of the Act which prescribes the machinery for calling in question the election of a returned candidate. When an election petition has been referred to a Tribunal by the Election Commission and the former is seized of the matter, the petition has to be disposed of according to law. The Tribunal has to adjudge at the conclusion of the proceeding whether the returned candidate has or has not committed any corrupt practice at the election secondly, it has to decide whether the second respondent should or should not be declared to have been duly elected. A returned candidate cannot get rid of an election petition filed against him by resigning his seat in the Legislature, whatever the reason for his resignation may be. In the present case, the election petition filed by respondent No. 2 has prayed for a composite relief namely, that the election of the appellant should be declared to be void and that respondent No. 2 should be declared to be duly elected. In a case of this description the Election Commission is not bound immediately to call upon the Assembly constituency to elect a person for the purpose of filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of the appellant. It is open to the Election Commission to await the result of the election petition and thereafter decide whether a bye-election should be held or not. If the election petition is ultimately dismissed or if the election is set aside but no further relief is given, a bye-election would follow. If, however, respondent No. 2 who filed the election petition or any other candidate is declared elected the provisions of S. 150 of the Act cannot operate at all because there is no vacancy to be filled. In the present case, therefore, we hold that the Election Commission is not bound under S. 150 of the Act to hold a bye-election forthwith but may suspend taking action under that section till the result of the election petition filed by respondent No. 2 is known.6. This view is also supported by the circumstance that no time-limit is fixed in the section for the Election Commission to call upon the Assembly constituency concerned to elect a person for filling the vacancy. Nor does the section say that the Election Commission shall hold a bye-election "forthwith" or "immediately". It is also conceivable that there may be a situation in which the Election Commission may not hold a bye-election at all or may hold the bye-election after a delay of 2 or 3 months. Take for instance, a case where a member resigns his seat in the Legislative Assembly of a State 3 months before a General Election is due to be held. It cannot be suggested that the Election Commission is bound under S. 150 (1) of the Act to hold a bye-election forthwith in that vacancy. Take also another instance where a member of an Assembly of Himachal Pradesh resigns his seat during winter. It cannot be argued that the Election Commission is bound to issue a notification for a bye-election forthwith though the climatic conditions are unsuitable for holding such a bye-election.7. The view that we have expressed as to the scope and effect of S. 150 of the Act is borne out by the following passage from Mays Parliamentary Practice, 17th Edn., pp. 176-177 :"Where a vacancy has occurred prior to, or immediately after, the first meeting of a new Parliament, the writ will not be issued until the time for presenting election petitions has expired. Nor will a writ be issued, if the seat which has been vacated be claimed on behalf of another candidate.In December 1852, several Members, against whose return election petitions were pending, accepted office under the Crown. After much consideration, it was agreed that where a void election only was alleged, a new writ should be issued (Southampton and Carlow writs, 29 December 1852); and again, in 1859 and in 1880, the same rule was adopted.Where the seat is claimed, it has been ruled that the writ should be withheld until after the trial of that claim (Athlone, Election, 1859), or until the petition has been withdrawn [Louth Election (Mr. Chichester Fortescue), 1866].In 1859, Viscount Bury accepted office under the Crown, while a petition against his return for Norwich, on the ground of bribery, was pending; and, as his seat was not claimed, a new writ was issued. Being again returned, a petition was presented against his second election, claiming the seat for another candidate. The petition against the first election came on for trial, and the committee reported that the sitting Members, Lord Bury and Mr. Schneider, had been guilty, by their agents, of bribery at that election. By virtue of that report, Lord Bury, under the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act, became incapable of sitting or voting in Parliament, or, in other words, ceased to be a Member of the House, but as a petition against his second return, claiming the seat, was then pending, a new writ was not issued [Parl. Deb. (1859) 155, c. 865]."

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

Explanation:
0[ds]4. We are unable to accept the argument of the appellant as correct. In our opinion, the provisions of S. 150 of the Act must be interpreted in the context of Sections 84 and 98 (c) and other relevant provisions of Part III of the same Act. If the interpretation contended for by the appellant is accepted as correct the vacancy must be filled by a bye-election as soon as a member resigns his seat notwithstanding the pendency of an election petition challenging his election. If the candidate who filed the election petition eventually gets a declaration that the election of the member is void and that himself had been duly elected there will be two candidates representing the same constituency at the same time, one of them declared to be duly elected at the General Election and the other declared to have been elected at the bye-election and an impossible situation would arise. It cannot be supposed that Parliament contemplated such a situation while enacting Section 150 of the Act. Parliament could not have intended that the provisions of Part VI of the Act pertaining to election petitions, should stand abrogated as soon as a member resigns his seat in the Legislature. It is a well-settled rule of construction that the provisions of a statute should be so read as to harmonise with one another and the provisions of one section cannot be used to defeat those of another unless it is impossible to effect reconciliation between them.It is, therefore, not permissible, in the present case, to interpret S. 150 of the Act in isolation without reference to Part III of the Act which prescribes the machinery for calling in question the election of a returned candidate. When an election petition has been referred to a Tribunal by the Election Commission and the former is seized of the matter, the petition has to be disposed of according to law. The Tribunal has to adjudge at the conclusion of the proceeding whether the returned candidate has or has not committed any corrupt practice at the election secondly, it has to decide whether the second respondent should or should not be declared to have been duly elected. A returned candidate cannot get rid of an election petition filed against him by resigning his seat in the Legislature, whatever the reason for his resignation may be. In the present case, the election petition filed by respondent No. 2 has prayed for a composite relief namely, that the election of the appellant should be declared to be void and that respondent No. 2 should be declared to be duly elected. In a case of this description the Election Commission is not bound immediately to call upon the Assembly constituency to elect a person for the purpose of filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of the appellant. It is open to the Election Commission to await the result of the election petition and thereafter decide whether a bye-election should be held or not. If the election petition is ultimately dismissed or if the election is set aside but no further relief is given, a bye-election would follow. If, however, respondent No. 2 who filed the election petition or any other candidate is declared elected the provisions of S. 150 of the Act cannot operate at all because there is no vacancy to be filled. In the present case, therefore, we hold that the Election Commission is not bound under S. 150 of the Act to hold a bye-election forthwith but may suspend taking action under that section till the result of the election petition filed by respondent No. 2 iscannot be argued that the Election Commission is bound to issue a notification for a bye-election forthwith though the climatic conditions are unsuitable for holding such a bye-election.This view is also supported by the circumstance that nois fixed in the section for the Election Commission to call upon the Assembly constituency concerned to elect a person for filling the vacancy. Nor does the section say that the Election Commission shall hold a"forthwith" or "immediately". It is also conceivable that there may be a situation in which the Election Commission may not hold aat all or may hold theafter a delay of 2 or 3 months. Take for instance, a case where a member resigns his seat in the Legislative Assembly of a State 3 months before a General Election is due to be held. It cannot be suggested that the Election Commission is bound under S. 150 (1) of the Act to hold aforthwith in that vacancy. Take also another instance where a member of an Assembly of Himachal Pradesh resigns his seat during winter. Itcannot be argued that the Election Commission is bound to issue a notification for aforthwith though the climatic conditions are unsuitable for holding such a