Holding

"For the time being" means the membership existing at the date of the motion, so the motion of no confidence was validly passed.

Summary

J.N. Kaul, elected president of the Zilla Parishad, Lucknow, was removed after a no‑confidence motion was passed. Kaul challenged the validity of the motion, arguing that two nominated members were disqualified as they held offices of profit and that the phrase "for the time being" in Section 28(11) of the U.P. Kehhetra Samiti and Zilla Parishad Adhiniyam, 1961 should be interpreted to mean the total membership at the time of the Parishad's constitution (62 members), not the membership on the date of the motion. The Allahabad High Court set aside the nominations, held the effective strength to be 60, and concluded that 31 votes constituted more than half, thereby upholding the motion. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined the statutory language and overruled the High Court's earlier interpretation in Bhaiya Lal v. P.N. Tiwari, holding that "for the time being" means the membership existing at the date of the motion. Consequently, the motion was validly carried and the High Court's decision was affirmed.

Issues considered

Whether the phrase "for the time being" in Section 28(11) of the U.P. Kehhetra Samiti and Zilla Parishad Adhiniyam, 1961 refers to the total number of members at the time of the Parishad's constitution or the number of members existing on the date of the no‑confidence motion.
Whether the two nominated members were disqualified as holders of an office of profit and thus should be excluded from the total strength for the purpose of the vote.

Legislation cited

U.P. Kehhetra Samiti and Zilla Parishad Adhiniyam, 1961s. 28(11)
U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916s. 87-A(12), s. 87-A(13)

Subjects

no confidence motionZilla Parishadstatutory interpretationfor the time beingoffice of profitU.P. Kehhetra Samiti and Zilla Parishad AdhiniyamU.P. Municipalities ActSupreme Court of Indiaappeal dismissed

Judgment

A JIVENDRA NATH KAUL ETC.
v.
THE COLLECTOR/DISTRICT MAGISTRATE AND ANR ETC.

JULY 24, 1992

B [KULDIP SINGH AND YOGESHWAR DAYAL, JJ.)

U.P. Kehhetra Samiti and Zilla Parishad Adhiniyam, 1961:

Section 28(11)--President-No confidence motion-When carried
C out-'For the time being'-lnterpretation of-Means at the moment or existing
position-Actual membership in existence on date of no confidence motion.

The appellant was elected president of the Zilla Parishad on January
25, 1989. Two others were nominated as members of the Zilla Parishad.
On the date of its constitution the Zilla Parishad had a total of 62
D members.

On August 17, 1990, 56 members of the Zilla Parishad moved a no
confidence motion against the president under Section 28 of the U.P.
Kehhetra Samiti and Zilla Parishad Adhinfyam, 1961. The meeting to
consider the said motion was held on September 14, 1990. 34 members were
E
present at the meeting. 33 members including the two nominated members
voted in favour of the motion while one member voted against, and as such
the motion of no confidence was carried out against the president.

F
The appellant filed two writ petitions in the High Court and chal-
lenged and proceedings of the meeting dated September 14, 1990 and also
his removal from the office of the president. He further challenged the
-
nomination of the two nominated members on the ground that on the date ~.
of their nomination both of them were in government serivce and as such
were disqualified to be members of the Zilla Parishad, being holders of an
G office of profit.

The High Court by its judgment partly allowed the Writ Petiti~ns
and set aside the nominations of the two members holding the same to be
illegal. It further held, that as they were not lawful members of the
Parishad, their names are to be ignored, that the total strength of the
H members of the Parishad for the time being comes to 60, and if these two
642
JNENDRA KAUL v. COLLECTOR 643

, names are also excluded from the number of members who voted for the A ~
---( action of no confidence, the number of such members who voted for the
motion of confidence, comes to 31. Thus, 31 members voted for the action
of no confidence out of the total strength of 60 members, and therefore the
irresistible conclusion was that the motion of no confidence was carried
out by more than half of the total number of members of the Zilla Parishad
for the time being.
B

The appellant flied appeals to this Court by Special Leave. It was
contended on behalf of the appellant relying on an earlier judgment of the
High Court in Bhaiya Lal v. P.N. Tiwari 1970 Allahabad Law Journal 36,

--
that the words "for the time being" in Section 28(11) of the Adhiniyam C
means the total number of members in existence at the time of the
constitution of the Zilla Parishad and not on the date when the motion of
no confidence was considered.

Dismissing the appeals, this Court,
D
HELD : 1. "For the time being" in section 28(1::.) of the Adhiniyam
means at the moment or existing position. These words indic~te the actual
membership in existence on the date of the motion of no confidence. [648A]

2. The High Court-In Bhaiya Lal's case has not given natural mean-
-( ing to the expressions contained in sub-sections 12 and 13 of section 87-A
E
of the U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916. The only meaning which can be given
to the expression "half of the total members of the Board" is the members
as existing on the date of its constitution. The High Court's interpretation
is contrary to the plain language of the sub-section. Similarly, the High
Court fell into grave error by not appreciating the plain meaning of the F
words "for the time being" in sub-section 13 of section 87-A of the Act. On
the basis of strained reasoning it has given an interpretation which does
not Dow from the simple language of sub-sections 12 and 13 of section 87-A
of the Act. The High Court Judgment does not therefore lay down the
correct law. [647F-648B] G

Bhaiya Lal v. P.N. Tiwari, 1970 All. LJ. 36, over-ruled.

In the instant case, where out of total number of 62 members,
nomination of two having been held illegal, actual membership on the date
of the motion was 60, and out of total 34 members present in the meeting, H
644 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.

A 33 voted for the motion and only 1 voted against, it has to be held that the
motion was carried out against the President. (646 E-F]

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos. 2652-53
of 1992.

B From the Judgment and- Order dated 6.3.1991 of the Allahabad High
Court in W.P. No.8460 of 1990 and C.M.W.P. No. 9514 of 1990.

Satish Chandra, P .K. Chakraborty and Ms. Sandhya Goswami for the ..,,. __
Appellant.

C The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

KULDIP SINGH, J. Special leave granted.

J .N. Kaul was elected president of Zilla Parishad, Lucknow on
January 25, 1989. D.K. Anand and Nand Kishore Verma were nominated
D as members of the Zilla Parishad. On the date of its constitution the Zilla
Parishad had total of 62 members. On August 17, 1990 56 members of the
Zilla Parishad moved a no confidence motion against the president under
section 28 of U.P. Kehhetra Samiti and Zilla Parishad Adhiniyam, 1961
(hereinafter called as the Adhiniyam). Section 28(11) of the Adhiniyam
E which is relevant is as under:-

"If the motion is carried with the support of more than half of the
total number of members of the Zilla Parishad for the time being........"

The meeting to consider the motion of no confidence was held on
F September 14, 1990. 34 members were present at the meeting. 33 members
including Anand and Verma voted in favour of the motion while one
member voted against and as such the motion of no confid~'mce was carried
out agaist the president. -

J.N. Kaul filed two writ petitions before the Allahabad High Court
G which were heard together. In the writ petitions Kaul challenged the
proceedings of the meeting dated September 14, 1990 and also his removal
from the office of the president He further challenged the nomination of
Anand and Verma on the ground that on the date _of their nomination both
/- .
of them were in government service and as such were disqualified to be
H members of the Zilla Parishad, being holders of an office of profit. His
JIVENDRA KAUL v. COLLECTOR [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 645
I

challenge in the writ petition was based on the following grounds:- ! A
{1) That the nomination of Anand and Verma as members of
the Zilla Parishad was illegal as on the date of nomination they
were government servants and were holding "office of profit".

{2) That the notice by the members intimating their intention .I B
to move the motion of no confidence was illegal as Anand and
Verma who were disqualified to hold the office of member of
Zilla Parishad, had signed the said notice.

{3) That the meeting dated September 14, 1990 was in violation C

- of mandatory provisions of the Adhiniyam as the reguisite clear
notice of 15 days was not served upon the members nor the
notice was published by affixing the same on the notice board
of the Parishad.
!

--.~
' (4) That the participation of Anand and Verma in the delibera- D
tion of the meeting dated September 14, 1990 vitiates the entire
proceedings of the meeting.

(5) That the required "more than half of the total number of
members of the Zilla Parishad for the time being" did not vote E
in favour of the motion.

Thd High Court by a reasoned judgment partly allowed the petitions
and set-aside the nominations of Anand and Verma holding the same to
be illegal. All other contentions raised before it on behalf of Kaul were
rejected. This appeal via special leave petition is against the judgment of F
the High Court.

We have ·heard Mr. Satish Chandra, learned Senior Advocate on
behalf of the appellant. We have been taken through the judgment of the
High Court. We do not find any infirmity in the same. We agree with the
reasoning and the conclusions reached by the High Court. Mr. Satish G
Chandra, taking support from Bhaiya Lal v. P.N. Tiwari, 1970 Allahabad
Law Journal 36 has assailed the finding of the High Court on the point that
the motion of no confidence was not supported by_ more than half of the
total number of members of the Zilla Parishad for the time being. The
relevant part of the High Court judgment, under appeal, is as under:- H
646 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992] 3 S.C.R.

A "We have the report of the Presiding Officer, Sri Sushil Kumar
Srivastava, as Annexure-3 to the counter affidavit of the Col-
lector, Lucknow. The report is quite revealing. The report·
shows that in all 34 members of die Parishad were present.
After deliberations 32 members voted in favour of the motion
of no-confidenC:e and one member voted against the motion of
B no-confidence.. The remaining vote of the 34th member was
debated because the mark made by the voter was not made in
the column meant for "yes". Initially the Presiding Officer was
of the view that the vote was invalid bµt when the Assistant
Election Officer informed the Presiding Officer that it was not
c explained to the members as to· at what place the mark was to
be placed by the. voter, the Presiding Officer was of the view
that since the mark was above the column meant for "yes" the
vote was valid and was cast in favour of the motion of no-con-
fidence. Thus, a total of 33 members voted for the ·motion of
---
D
no-confidence when the total strength at that time was 62. It
was not disputed ·that both opposite parties nos.2 and 3 voted
.~ .
for the motion of no-confidence. We have already held that
they were not lawful members ~f the Parishad and, as such,
their names are to be ignored. If we ignore these two members,
then the total strength of the members of the Parishad for the
E time being comes to 60 and if these two names are also excluded
from the number of members, who voted for the action of
no-confidence, the number of such members who voted for the
motion of no-confidence, comes to 31. Thus, 31 members voted
for the action of no-confidence out of total strength of 60
members. The conclusion was irresistible that the motion of
F
no-confidence was carried out by more than half of the total
number of members of the Zilla Parishad for the time being."

Mr. Satish Chandra contended that "for the time being" in section
28(11) of the adhiniyam means the total number of members which were
G in existence at the time of the constitution of the Zilla Parishad and not on
the date when the motion of no confidence was considered. According to
him the total number of members which should have been· taken into
consideration was 62 and since the votes for the motion were 31 which )-.....
menas only 50% and not more than 50%, the motion failed. The argument
H has been advanced on the basis of the judgment of a Division Bench of
JIVENDRA v. COLLECTOR [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 647

Allahabad High Court in Bhaiya Lal's case (supra). In that case the High A
Court was concerned with the provisions of U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916
(Act). The Municipal Board Mugal Sarai consisted of 16 members inch~d-
ing the president. A notice of the intention to move a motion of no-con-
fidence against the president was given by the members. Sub-sections (12)
and (13) of section 87"A of the Act which came for consideration befqre B
the High Court in Bhaiya Lal's case (Supra) were as under:-

12. "The motion shall be deemed to have been carried only
when it has been passed by a majority of more than half of the
total number of members of the Board". .
c
- 13. "If the motion...........which shall not be less than one-half of
the total number of membes of the board for the time being,
no notice of any subsequent motion of non-confidence in the
same President shall be received until after the expiry of a
period of twelve months from the date of the meeting.". D

The Allahabad High Court interpreted "for the time being" in sub-,
section (13) of section 87-A to mean the members of the board as they
existed on the date of its constitution and not on the date when the motion'
of no confidence was considered. So far as sub-section (12) of section 87-A
of the Act was concerned the High Court interpreted the expression "total E
number of members of the Board" to mean the total number of members ·
who were funtioning as such at the relevant time which means on the date '
of the meeting and did not include members or members who had been ,
removed form office. We are of the view that the High Court judgment in ,
Bhaiya Lat's case (supra) does· not lay down correct law. The High Court · F
has not given natural meaning to the expressions contained in sub-sections '
(12) and (13) of section 87-A of the Act. The only meaning which can be
given to the expression "half of the total number of members of the Board"
is the members as existed on the date of its constitution. The total number
of members on the date of the composition of the municipal board, Mugal ,
Sarai was 16 and as such not withstahding the removal of member/members ,G
the;: motion of no confidence could only be passed if the motion was
supported by more than 8 votes. The High Court's interpretation is on the
face of it contrary to the plain language of the sub-section. Similarly the
High Court fell into grave error by not appreciating the plain meaning of ',
the words "for the time being" in sub"section (13) of section 87-A of the H
648 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.

A Act. "For the time being" means at the moment or existing position. These
words indicate the actual membership in existence on the date of the
motion of no confidence. The High Court Qn the basis of strained reasoning
has given interpretation which does not flow from the simple language of
sub-sections (12) and (13) of section 87-A of the Act. We, therefore, hold
B that the High Court judgment in Bhaiya Lal's case (Supra) does not lay
down the correct law and we over-rule the same.

Apart from relying on the judgment of Allahabad High Court in
Bhaiya Lal's case Mr. Satish Chandra did not advance any other argument
before us.
c We, therefore, dismiss the appeal with no orders as to cost.

N.V.K. Appeals dismissed. -

,.._
/