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TMI Blog2012 (2) TMI 703X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ate on which the members first assumed office. The words of Section 7 of the Act are intended to operate in an extra-ordinary situation, as the normal course should be that the Central Government hold the elections within a period of five years from the date of notification of the elected candidates for the previous tenure. Even where recourse to this exceptional situation becomes necessary, even there, the concept of reasonable time would come into play, in a situation where no definite period has been prescribed by the Legislature itself. The courts can always supply such lacuna in the interpretation of provisions of a law so as to achieve the object of the Act particularly when such interpretation would be in consonance with the legislative object of the statute. Thus, in our considered opinion, a period of three months would be more than sufficient time for completing the election process, in the event of exceptional circumstances and if the elections had not been commenced and completed within the period of previous tenure of five years, as is the requirement of law, and the Government cannot abjure its obligation to do so within a maximum period of three months. Thus, we part ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... atowar, Advs. for Corporate Law Group, Praveen Kumar Pandey, P. Vijay Kumar, C.S.N. Mohan Rao, Ajay Veer Pundir, Gouri Karuna Das Mohanti, Sanjiv Sharma, Anu Gupta, Anish Kumar Gupta, Deepshikha Bharati and R.D. Gupta, Advs. JUDGMENT Swatanter Kumar, J. 1. The Central Council of Indian Medicine (for short 'the Central Council') is a statutory body, constituted in terms of Section 3 of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 (for short 'the Act'). Section 4 of the Act mandates that election under Clause (a) or Clause (b) of Sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act shall be conducted by the Central Government in accordance with the rules as may be made in this behalf. Where any dispute arises regarding any election to the Central Council, it shall be referred to the Central Government whose decision shall be final. Sub-section (1)(a) of Section 3 provides that the Central Council shall consist of such number of members, not exceeding five, as may be determined by the Central Government in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule of the Act for each of the Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems of medicine, from each State, in which a State Register of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... years from the date of election or nomination, as the case may be, or until a successor has been duly elected or nominated, whichever is longer. The latter part of this Section caused serious impediment in the proper functioning of the Central Council primarily for two reasons: (a) the Central Government did not take appropriate steps to hold fresh elections and (b) the persons who were elected and were interested in continuing as such, took advantage of this provision and continued in office far beyond five years as nobody was duly elected to replace them. 4. The Petitioner is an Ayurvedic doctor and holds the degree of Ayurvedic Medicine, namely BAMS, has done his post graduation MD (Ayurvedic) degree subsequently. The Petitioner claims that he held and still holds various offices in different organizations dealing with Ayurveda system of medicine. He claims to be the General Secretary of the Medical Association of India and member of the Governing Body of All India Ayurvedic Congress Committee, New Delhi and Indian Association of Blood Bank, Delhi. His aim is to ensure proper functioning of the Central Council, which has not been properly constituted and for which elections hav ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... entral Council with the aid of language of Section 7 of the Act. To contend that the delay is prejudicial to the working of the Central Council and is also opposed to the spirit of Section 3 of the Act, they rely on the decision of this Court in the case of Kishansing Tomar v. Municipal Corporation of the City of Ahmedabad and Ors. (2006) 8 SCC 352, which held that the Election Commission should take steps by following due process of law, but that too should be done in a timely manner and in no circumstances, shall such elections be delayed, so as to cause gross violation of mandatory provisions contained in Articles 243U of the Constitution. This buttresses their submission that timeliness in conduct of elections is mandatory. 6. Lastly, challenge has been raised to the following portion of Section 7 of the Act as unconstitutional, violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution: or until his successor shall have been duly elected or nominated, whichever is longer 7. First and foremost, we will deal with the contention of the provision being ultra vires of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, raised on behalf of the Petitioner. Article 14 guarantees equality be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... act effectively and in accordance with law. 9. A statute is construed so as to make it effective and operative as per the principle expressed in ut res magis valeat quam pereat. There is, therefore, a presumption that the Legislature does not exceed its jurisdiction and the burden of establishing that the Act is not within the competence of Legislature or that it has transgressed other constitutional mandates, such as those relating to fundamental rights, is always on the person who challenges its vagaries. 10. Here, we may also notice that there are two rules, of most general application, in construing a written instrument which are pair material, applicable to statutes as well. First, if possible, the written instrument shall be interpreted in light of the above mechanism and secondly, such a meaning shall be given to it, as may carry out and effectuate, to the fullest extent, the intention of the parties or the framers of law. of course, such interpretation will be subject to the limitations of uniformity in the meaning given to such expressions etc. 11. It is also a settled and deeply rooted canon of constitutional jurisprudence, that in the process of constitutional adjudi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion 6(1) of the Dentists Act, read with Regulation 23 of the Dental Council (Election) Regulations, 1952, framed hereunder. A Constitution Bench of this Court repelled the said challenge in the case of Dental Council of India and Anr. v. Dr. H.R. Prem Sachdeva and Ors. (1999) 8 SCC 471 and held as under: 7. A conjoint reading of the various provisions of the Act and the Regulations referred to above go to show that the term of office of the members of the Council is five years from the date of the election or nomination, as the case may be. Section 6(1), however, also provides that a nominated or elected member, after the expiry of the term, may continue "until his successor has been duly elected or nominated, whichever is longer". The expression "whichever is longer" does suggest the continuation after the expiry of the term. Can it, however, be construed to mean that if the authorities fail to act as per Clauses (a) to (f) of Section 3, the member concerned can continue to remain in office till perpetuity? In our opinion that could not be the intention of the law-makers. Regulation 23 (supra) does give an indication of what we have said above. 8. A reason ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al Council have been completed in all the States. 15. The election process in regard to Siddha system of medicine in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir had not been completed, though elected candidates under the Unani and Ayurvedic systems had been notified. This was because there were no Siddha practitioners in those states. In all other States, the election process in regard to the three medicine systems i.e., Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha had been completed and the elected candidates duly notified. 16. It was also pointed out before us that the Central Government had not made its nomination in terms of Section 3(c) of the Act, under all the three systems of medicine. 17. We may notice that this petition has been rendered infructuous, though to a limited extent. Section 3 of the Act imposes a statutory obligation upon the Central Government to hold elections to the Central Council, in accordance with the statutory provisions, which we have discussed above. Furthermore, the Central Government is responsible for nominating such number of members not exceeding 30 per cent of the total members elected under Sections 3(1)(a) and 3(1)(b) of the Act to th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ll take steps to prepare the electoral rolls, by following due process of law, but that too, should be done in a timely manner and in no circumstances, shall the elections be delayed so as to cause gross violation of the mandatory provisions contained in Article 243U of the Constitution. Further, while drawing a distinction between severe man-made calamities such as rioting, breakdown of law and order or natural calamities, which could distract the authorities from holding elections to the Municipality and other reasons for delay, this Court noted that the former are exceptional circumstances and under no other circumstance would the Election Commission be justified in delaying the process of election after consulting the State Government and other authorities. This Court laid significant emphasis on the independence of the State Election Commission and expected all other authorities to fully cooperate, and in default, granted liberty to the State Election Commission to approach the High Court and/or the Supreme Court, as the case may be for relief/directions. However, no final or time-bound directions were issued, in the petition above-referred, because election to the Ahmedabad M ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he courts in the process of interpretation can supply the lacuna, which would help to achieve the object of the Act and the legislative intent and make the provisions effective and operative. 23. Neither the Government, nor the Central Council can abjure their obligation to complete the election process within five years, or in any case, within a reasonable time thereafter. Thus, in our considered opinion, a period of three months would be more than sufficient for completing the election process in accordance with law. This time limit shall operate only and as and when the Central Government and the Central Council jointly and severely are not able to hold the fresh elections within the term of office of the previously elected members, i.e., five years from the date on which the members first assumed office. 24. The words of Section 7 of the Act are intended to operate in an extra-ordinary situation, as the normal course should be that the Central Government hold the elections within a period of five years from the date of notification of the elected candidates for the previous tenure. Even where recourse to this exceptional situation becomes necessary, even there, the concept of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tition, another writ petition being Writ Petition (Civil) No. 249 of 2011, was filed with identical prayers. In view of this judgment, that writ petition has been rendered infructuous and is liable to be dismissed as such. 27. I.A. No. 8 is an application for intervention in the present writ petition, by one Dr. Vinod Kumar Chauhan. I.A. No. 9 is an application by the same party, with the prayer that the election to Central Council, held from the State of Uttarakhand be set aside and that fresh selection process be ordered. I.A. No. 9 is dismissed, with the liberty to that Petitioner to approach the court of competent jurisdiction, seeking appropriate relief and in accordance with law. 28. In view of the order of I.A. No. 9, I.A. No. 8 does not survive and is dismissed as such. 29. Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 736 of 2011 is also dismissed, with liberty to the Petitioner to pursue his remedy, if the cause of action survives, before the concerned High Court. 30. All Transfer Petitions and Interlocutory Applications for impleadment are hereby dismissed. Other applications do not survive for consideration. 31. Before we part with this judgment, we would like to place on record o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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