Satya Narayan Prasad vs Election Commission Of India Through : Secretary

RAJENDRA MENON, CJ

CM APPLs. 39778/2018 & 39779/2018(both for exemption) Â Allowed, subject to just exceptions.

 Both the applications stand disposed of.

W.P.(C) 10198/2018 & CM APPL. 39780/2018

Petitioner claiming to be a public spirited person has filed this writ petition in public interest and the prayer made in the writ petition reads as under:

“1. Directing the Hon’ble Election Commission to hold the constitutional elections, the losers of the Lok Sabha (Lower House) / Legislative

Assembly elections should be instructed to declare the disqualification for the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) elections for 5 years.

Pass such order / direction as this Hon’ble Court deem fit and proper in the interest of justice.â€​

It is the case of the petitioner that the candidates who contest the election to the Lok Sabha and are defeated or lose the same are being nominated

or permitted to contest the election to the Rajya Sabha. This, according to the petitioner, is contrary to the decision taken by the people of the country

inasmuch as once they have rejected the candidature of a person to be elected to the Lok Sabha, permitting such person to be nominated or elected to

the Rajya Sabha, in the opinion of the petitioner, amounts to violation of the provisions of the Constitution and is a misuse of the democratic process of

election. Inter alia contending that repeated representations and complaints in this regard made to the Election Commission of India and the Ministry of

Parliamentary Affairs have not yielded any result, the petitioner has filed this writ petition in public interest with the prayer as indicated hereinabove.

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The petitioner nowhere in the writ petition has brought to the notice of this Court any constitutional provision, law, rule, regulation or any provision in

the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 which prohibits a candidate who has contested the Lok Sabha election and lost the same, from being

nominated or elected to the Rajya Sabha, in the absence of there being any prohibition in law, a writ court exercising jurisdiction under Article 226 of

the Constitution of India cannot invoke its jurisdiction and issue any mandamus as prayed for. Â

The prayer made by the petitioner is nothing but a prayer to bring into place a statutory provision prohibiting certain class of candidates from being

nominated or elected to the Rajya Sabha. Â

This, in our considered view, is of legislative function to be discharged by the legislative authorities and a writ court cannot issue any mandamus to

legislate or to bring into place a law in this regard.The question involved in the writ petition being beyond the realm of jurisdiction available to this Court

under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, we see no reason to make any indulgence into the matter.

 The writ petition is accordingly dismissed.