Holding

A member’s term is five years, and any post‑term continuance is only a temporary stop‑gap, not a perpetual tenure; elections must be held within a reasonable time thereafter.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined the provisions of the Dentist Act, 1948 and the Dental Council (Election) Regulations, 1952 to determine the permissible duration of a Dental Council member's term when elections are not held within the prescribed five‑year period. Section 6(1) states that a member holds office for five years or until a successor is elected, "whichever is longer," raising the question of whether a member could remain indefinitely if elections are delayed. The Court held that the intention of the legislature was not to allow perpetual continuance; the post‑term tenure is a temporary measure to avoid a vacancy and elections must be conducted within a reasonable time thereafter. The judgment noted the silence of the Act and Regulations on the exact post‑term period and urged the authorities to amend the law or frame appropriate rules. Consequently, the appeals were dismissed and the matter was left for legislative clarification.

Issues considered

Whether a Dental Council member may continue in office beyond the five‑year term if elections are not held.
Interpretation of the phrase "whichever is longer" in Section 6(1) of the Dentist Act.
Whether the Act or Regulations prescribe a maximum period after the expiry of the term for holding elections or nominations.

Legislation cited

Dental Council (Election) Regulations, 1952s. 23

Subjects

Dentist ActDental Councilterm of officeelectionstatutory interpretationcontinuance in officeregulationvacancyadministrative law

Judgment

-I DENTAL COUNCIL OF INDIA AND ANR. ETC. A
::.
v.
DR. H.R. PREM SACHDEVA AND ORS. ETC.

-·· OCTOBER 14, 1999

[DR. A.S. ANAND, CJ., S. RAJENDRA BABU AND R.C. LAHOTI, JJ.] B

Dentist Act, 1948/Dental Council (Election) Regulation, 1952:

• Ss.2{g), 3, 6, 7{1)/Regulation 23-Dental Council-Elected/nominated
members-Tenure-Held, elections/nominations to the Council should c
normally be held/made once in jive years-Iffor some valid reasons elections
could not be held during the term of jive years, it should be held within a
reasonable time thereafter and continuance in office after expiry of the term
should only be a stop gap arrangement to avoid a vacuum-Act and
Regulations are silent about the period during which elections/nominations
D
should be held/made and about consequences of not holding elections or
making nominations within jive year term or soon thereafter-Authorities
concerned to take appropriate measures in this regard.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos. 10232-
33 of 1995 Etc. E
From the Judgment and Order dated 31.8.95 of the Delhi High Court in
C.W.P. Nos. 302 and 3023of1995.

Harish N. Salve, A. Mariarputham, Ms. Pratibha M. Singh, Ms. Kavita
Wadia and Maninder Singh for the appellants in C.A. Nos. I 0232-33/95. F

Vikas Singh, Yunus Malik, Reetesh Singh, Richa Kachhwaha and L.R.
Singh for the appellant in C.A. No. 10234/95 and Res. No. 2 in G.A. Nos.
10232-33/95.
G
The following Order of the Court was delivered :

Both these appeals, by special leave arise out of the judgment and order
of the High Court of Delhi in CWP No. 3021 and 3023 of 1995, decided on
3 lst August, 1995.
)' H
'·
2 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A Although for all practical purposes, these appeals, it is admitted by
learned counsel for the parties, have been rendered infructuous and we need
not detain ourselves to deal with the facts of the case leading to the filing
of the appeals but there is one matter which has caused us some concern.
...
.
Section 3 of the Dentist Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act')
B provides that the Central Government shall constitute a Council consisting of
the members detailed in sub-sections (a) to (f) thereof. Section 4 of the Act
provides that the Council shall be a body corporate, having perpetual
succession. Under Section 5, the elections under Chapter-II of the Act shall
)
be conducted in the prescribed manner, and where any dispute arises regarding
c any such election, the same shall be referred to the Central Government
whose decision shall be final. Section 2(g) defines the expression "prescribed"
to mean prescribed by rules or regulations made under this Act.
•
· Section 6(1) provides as follows : -

D "6. (I) Subject to the provisions of this section an elected or nominated
member shall hold office for a term of five years from the date of his
election or nomination or until his successor has been duly elected
or nominated, whichever is longer;

(Provided that a member nominated under clause ( e) or clause ( f)
E of section 3, shall hold office during the pleasure of the authority
nominating him.)"

Section 7 of the Act provides as follows : -

"7(1) The President and Vice-President of the Council shall be elected
by the members thereof from among themselves:
F
Provided that on the first constitution of the Council and until the
President is elected, a member of the Council nominated by the Central
Government in this behalf shall discharge the functions of the President:
Provided further that for five years from the first constitution of
G the Council, the President shall, if the Central Government so decides,
be a person nominated by the Central Government who shall hold
office during the pleasure of the Central Government, and where he
is not already a member, shall be a member of the Council in addition
to the members referred to in section 3.
t
H (2) An elected President or Vice-President shall hold office as
DENTAL COUNCIL OF INDIA v. DR. H.R. PREM SACHDEVA 3

such for a term not exceeding five years and not extending beyond A
the expiry of his term as member of the Council, but subject to his
being a member of the Council, he shall be eligible for re-election.

Regulation 23 of the Dental Council (Election) Regulations, 1952
(hereinafter referred to as 'the Regulations') provides as follows:
B
"23. Representatives of Universities-The President shall not later
than 60 days before the date of occurrence of a vacancy or vacancies
forward a notice by registered post to the Registrar of each University
concerned, requesting him to hold an election not later than the date
specified in the notice."
c
A conjoint reading of the various prov1s1ons 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 D
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 clause (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 E
have said above.

A reasonable interpretation of the prov1s10ns of the Act and the
regulation would be that elections/nominations to the Council should normally
be held/made once in five years. However, if for some valid reasons the
elections cannot be held during the term of five years, the same should be F
~ held within a reasonable time thereafter and the continuance in office of the
elected/nominated members should not go on for perpetuity. The continuance
in office, after the expiry of the term, should only be a stop gap arrangement
to avoid a vacuum. The obligation to nominate/hold elections is of various
authorities obliged to elect/nominate members to the Council under Clauses G
(a) to (f). The Act and the Regulations are, silent about the period during
which elections/nominations should be made/held as also about the
consequences of not holding the elections or making nominations within the
five year term or soon thereafter and this lacuna gives rise to unnecessary
litigation. We hope that the authorities concerned shall take appropriate
measures by amending the provisions of the Statute or the Regulations or H
4 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999) SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A frame appropriate rules so that the ambiguity regarding the maximum period,
after the expiry of the five year term, during which election/nomination should
be held/made is removed.

With the aforesaid observations the appeals are disposed of. No Costs.,

B RP. Appeals disposed of.

•