In An Electoral Government, The Majority's Will Prevails

NAME OF THE CASE AND CORAM

• NAME: Sau. Sangeeta w/o Sunil Shinde v. The State of Maharashtra and others
• CORAM: Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• INCPS was created and a Gatneta (group leader) was appointed by the petitioner which was reported to the District Collector.
• It was taken into account that no members had been taken in confidence nor any meetings took place for INCPS.
• It was noted that the appellant could not be dismissed as a Party Leader until the five-year period ended.
• The court decided that the President of the District INC Party was given the power to act regarding leadership change at the first meeting.

CASE BACKGROUND

• In the elections held in 2017, the petitioner, Sau.Sangeeta and respondents Nos. 3, 4, and 5 were elected as representatives of the Panchayat Samiti, Shrirampur. The Indian National Congress Party ('INC Party') had approved all four of them to contest for the Panchayat Samiti election. As a result, the applicant and respondents Nos. 3, 4, and 5 created the INCPS Party, a "Panchayat Samiti Party."
• The petitioner claimed that her appointment as Gatneta (Party Leader/Party Whip) of INCPS Party was confirmed by a party decision. This was reported to the District Collector in accordance with the relevant rules.
• Respondents 3, 4, and 5 filed a complaint with the District Collector in 2019, saying that throughout the appellant's two-and-a-half-year tenure, she had neither taken the members of INCPS Party into confidence nor conducted any INCPS Party meeting.
• A unanimous resolution was passed on January 4, 2020, in a meeting chaired by Ahmednagar District INC Party President and attended by respondents Nos. 3 to 5, to remove the applicant from the office of INCPS Party Leader and appoint Respondent No.3 to the very same position. The District Collector granted his clearance to the same.

CASE PROCEEDINGS

• The Court was considering an appeal filed against a decision of the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) upholding the decision of the District Collector, Ahmednagar, to approve the selection of respondent no. 3, Dr. Vandana Dnyaneshwar Murkute as Group Leader also called as Gatneta of the INC, Shrirampur Panchayat Samiti Party.
• The plaintiff failed to challenge the approval of the District Collector before the High Court, and the matter eventually went to the Supreme Court.
• The appellant's lawyer, Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade, stated that she was chosen as the Gatneta for a 5-year term under the Maharashtra Local Authorities Members Disqualification Rules, 1987. Unless there was a regulation to the contrary, the appellant could not have been dismissed as a Party Leader until the five-year period had ended.
• Advocate Sachin Patil, representing the state and the District Collector, claimed that the motion to remove the applicant and appoint Respondent No.3 was carried by the ICPS party with a three-fourths majority, and hence the District Collector's order was legal.

CASE RELEVANCE

• In the end, the Apex Court stated that in a democratic system, the majority's will should prevail.
• In the case, Sau Sangeeta w/o Sunil Shinde v. The State of Maharashtra & Or, the bench comprised of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai issued the statement about the approval of a party's group leader in Panchayat Samiti elections.
• The Court determined that the President of the District INC Party was given the power to act regarding leadership change at the first meeting in 2017. As a result, the appellant cannot be allowed to express her dissatisfaction with the mechanism used to remove her, because the appellant was appointed Gatneta/Party Leader using the same procedure.

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