BHARATI REDDY versus THE STATE OF KARNATAKA & ORS.

Citation: [2018] 3 S.C.R. 137 · Decided: 06-03-2018 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: DIPAK MISRA · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 2 judgment(s) · cites 12 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
137
BHARATI REDDY
v.
THE STATE OF KARNATAKA & ORS.
(Civil Appeal No. 1763 of 2018)
MARCH 06, 2018
[DIPAK MISRA, CJI, A. M. KHANWILKAR AND
    DR. D.Y. CHANDRACHUD, JJ.]
Constitution of India: Art. 226 – Writ of quo warranto –
Issuance of, when – On facts, appellant got elected to the post of
Adhyaksha of Zilla Panchayat – Writ petition before the High Court
alleging that the appellant played fraud on the government by
submitting a false affidavit for issuance of Income and Caste
Certificate – Prayer seeking issuance of writ of quo warranto
directing appellant to vacate the office of Adhyaksha, allowed by
the Single Judge and the Division Bench of the High Court – As
regards the Income and Caste Certificate, directions to Caste
Verification Committee to proceed with the matter – On appeal, held:
Unless the Court is satisfied that the incumbent was not eligible at
all as per the statutory provisions for being appointed or elected to
the public office or that he/she has incurred disqualification to
continue in the said office, which satisfaction should be founded
on the indisputable facts, the High Court ought not to entertain the
prayer for issuance of a writ of quo warranto – Thus, the High
Court could not have issued a writ of quo warranto until the Income
and Caste Certificate issued in favour of the appellant, on the basis
of which she participated in the election for the post of Adhyaksha
and got elected, was to be declared void or invalidated by the Caste
Scrutiny Committee – Mere fact that the certificate was issued in a
short span of five days from the date of the application, per se,
does not lead to an inference that the required procedure has not
been followed and can be no basis to invalidate the certificate –
For a person possessing an Income and Caste Certificate issued by
the jurisdictional Authority and so long as it is valid and in force,
treating such a person as usurper of the public office and occupying
it without legal authority, cannot be accepted – Order passed by
the High Court set aside – Caste Verification Committee directed to
expedite the enquiry regarding validity of the Income and Caste
Certificate.
  [2018]  3 S.C.R. 137
137
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
138
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2018] 3 S.C.R.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1.1 The post of Adhyaksha of Zilla Panchayat is a
public office in relation to which a writ of quo warranto can be
issued, if the post is occupied by a person who is not eligible to
be so appointed or incurs disqualification to continue to occupy
the post. Indeed, when a statutory remedy is provided for removal
of disqualified person from the public office who is allegedly
usurper of public office, the writ court would be ordinarily slow in
interfering, much less, issuing a writ of quo warranto. [Para 13]
[160-B-C]
1.2 The concurrent finding recorded by the Single Judge
and the Division Bench of the High Court is that the process of
issuance of the certificate to the appellant by the jurisdictional
Authority was done in a mortal hurry. The Court also noted that
there was some overwriting in relation to the date. After adverting
to these circumstances, the High Court opined that there was
something seriously wrong about the process adopted by the
respondent No.5 for issuance of caste certificate, which was
obviously done to favour the appellant who could then contest
the election. The High Court also noted that the respondent No.5
who had issued the stated certificate was later on suspended,
pending departmental enquiry against him in reference to the
selfsame certificate issued to the appellant. Additionally, the High
Court has found that there was discrepancy in the two affidavits
filed by the appellant, which is in the nature of suppression and
non-disclosure of material financial information. Finally, the High
Court concluded that since the issue regarding the validity of
Income and Caste Certificate was pending before the Caste
Verification Committee, which was a fact finding Committee, the
Committee would decide the same on its own merits. Notably,
the High Court did not quash the caste certificate as being void
but left it open to the Caste Verification Committee to proceed
in accordance with law. [Para 16] [162-D-H; 163-A]
1.3 Interfering in exercise of writ jurisdiction is limited to
judicial review of the decision making process and not of the
decision itself. In the instant case, the final decision regarding
the validity of Income and Caste Certific

Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.