K.G.Balakrishnan, CJ. - (1.) THE Appellant was the Chief Minister of the State of Punjab during the 12th Term of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. THE Appellant was duly elected as a member of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha for its 13th Term.
(2.) THE Punjab Vidhan Sabha on 10th September, 2008 passed a resolution which directed the expulsion of the Appellant for the remainder of the 13th Term of the same Vidhan Sabha. This resolution was passed after considering a report submitted by a Special Committee of the Vidhan Sabha (Respondent No. 1) on 3rd September, 2008 which recorded findings that the Appellant along with some other persons (Petitioners in the connected matters) had engaged in criminal misconduct. THE Special Committee had itself been constituted on 18th December, 2007 in pursuance of a resolution passed by the Vidhan Sabha. It had been given the task of inquiring into allegations of misconduct that related back to the Appellant's tenure as the Chief Minister of the State of Punjab during the 12th Term of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. More specifically, it was alleged that the Appellant was responsible for the improper exemption of a vacant plot of land which was licensed to a particular private party (measuring 32.10 acres) from a pool of 187 acres of land that had been notified for acquisition by the Amritsar Land Improvement Trust on 5th December, 2003. THE Amritsar Land Improvement Trust is a statutory body which had notified the plan for acquisition in pursuance of a developmental scheme, as contemplated under Section 36 of the Punjab Land Improvement Act, 1922. Earlier, on 23rd June, 2003, a private party (M/s. Veer Colonizers) had applied for a licence under Section 5 of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995 to develop the abovementioned plot of 32.10 acres which was situated in the proximity of the Amritsar-Jalandhar road. At the time of the colonizer's application for a development licence, the said plot was not covered by any acquisition scheme, though it had been covered by two schemes in the past which had lapsed by then. After the notification of the scheme, the colonizer approached the concerned authorities, seeking an exemption from the proposed acquisition of land. Subsequently, on 7th October, 2005, the Amritsar Land Improvement Trust granted a No- objection certificate, thereby permitting the exemption of the said plot of 32.10 acres from the scheme for acquisition. This decision to exempt the said plot of 32.10 acres was notified by the State Government on 13th January, 2006 under Section 56 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act. Since, the Appellant was serving as the Chief Minister of the State at the time, it was alleged that the decision to exempt the plot was an executive act that could be attributed to him. However, some other private parties who owned plots in the pool of land that had been notified for acquisition by the Amritsar Land Improvement Trust on 5th December, 2003, raised objections against the exemption referred to above. The gist of their objections is that the State Government had unduly favoured one private party by exempting the said plot of 32.10 acres from the scheme for acquisition. In fact, the validity of the exemption was questioned in several cases instituted before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, namely those of Major General Sukhdip Randhawa (Retd.) and Ors. v. State of Punjab CWP No. 16923 of 2006; Daljtt Singh v. State of Punjab CWP No. 20266 of 2006; Sudarshan Kaur v. State of Punjab CWP No. 2929 of 2007 and Basant Colonisers and Builders (P) Ltd. v. State of Punjab CWP No. 7838 of 2008. All of these cases were pending before the High Court at the time of the hearings in the present case. Following the elections held to re-constitute the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in February 2007, there was a transition in power in the State. The 13th Vidhan Sabha was constituted on 1st March, 2007. The Appellant who had served as the Chief Minister of the State during the 12th Term of the Vidhan Sabha, became the leader of the opposition in the 13th Term. In pursuance of a news report dated, 22nd March, 2007, some members of the Legislative Assembly moved a privilege motion in respect of allegations of tampering in the proceedings of the 12th Vidhan Sabha (dated, 1st March, 2006). These allegations were in regard to a starred question relating to the grant of exemption of 32.10 acres of land. On 5th April, 2007, the notice of motion was referred to the Privileges Committee of the House by the Speaker. Thereafter, questions were raised on the floor of the house which cast aspersions on the Appellant's past conduct. On 18th December, 2007, the report of the Privileges Committee was tabled before the House. The incumbent Chief Minister brought a motion which specifically questioned the Appellant's role in the exemption of the 32.10 acre plot from the acquisition scheme notified by the Amritsar Improvement Trust. Following this motion, the Speaker of the House approved the constitution of a Special Committee to inquire into the alleged misconduct. The terms of reference for the Special Committee required it to examine as to what were the reasons for exempting the said plot measuring 32.10 acres of land. As part of this inquiry, the Special Committee had to examine whether any rule/norms had been violated on account of this exemption and whether it had caused monetary losses to the State exchequer. The stated objective was to identify those responsible for such losses.
(3.) THE Special Committee submitted its report on 3rd September, 2008 which was presented to the House on 5th September, 2008. THE report included findings that Captain Amarinder Singh (former Chief Minister, Appellant in Civil Appeal No. 6053 of 2008), Choudhary Jagjit Singh (former Local Bodies Minister, Petitioner in Writ Petition (Civ.) No. 443 of 2008), Late Sh. Raghunath Sahai Puri (former Housing Minister, since deceased) and Sh. Jugal Kishore Sharma (former Chairman of Amritsar Land Improvement Trust, Petitioner in Writ Petition (Civ.) No. 442 of 2008) had been involved in "corruption, conspiracy to cause wrongful loss and abuse of public office" in relation to the exemption of land from the above-mentioned acquisition scheme. It must be noted that out of the four individuals named in the report, only Captain Amarinder Singh was elected as a member of the 13th Punjab Vidhan Sabha. After considering these findings, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed the impugned resolution on 10th September, 2008 which is extracted below: After accepting the report submitted by the Special Committee appointed by this House, this august House recommends the following action: (i) Captain Amarinder Singh is expelled for the remaining term of the 13th Punjab Vidhan Sabha. THE Secretary of the Vidhan Sabha is instructed to approach the Election Commission of India to have his seat declared as vacant. (ii) THE recommendations of the Privilege Committee have been tabled in the House on 18th December, 2007 and they are forwarded to Chief Secretary, Punjab Government with the under mentioned instructions: Because this House does not possess any facility to investigate and find out where the accused have stashed away the ill gotten wealth or how it has been distributed, it is essential to have custodial interrogation. Director Vigilance Department, Punjab which deals with corruption cases and is an arm of the Punjab Government is instructed to file a FIR keeping in mind the various instructions of the Cr.PC. THE vigilance department is to investigate and submit its report to the Speaker of this House within two months from today. In pursuance of the said resolution, the secretariat of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha issued a notification on 10th September, 2008 which declared that Captain Amarinder Singh had been expelled from the membership of the 13th Vidhan Sabha for the remaining term of the State Legislature (i.e. 3.5 years). It was also declared that his assembly constituency seat (76-Patiala Town) was rendered vacant, thereby setting aside his election to the same. Aggrieved by the findings of the report submitted by the Special Committee on 3rd September, 2008, the Appellant moved the High Court of Punjab and Haryana (C.W. P. 11548 of 2008). Following the impugned resolution on 10th September, 2008, the said petition was withdrawn and C.W. P. 16216 of 2008 was instituted before the High Court to challenge the Special Committee's report as well as the impugned resolution dated, 10th September, 2008. On 15th September, 2008, a Division Bench of the High Court issued an Order directing that the case be heard on merits on 1st December, 2008. The High Court did not grant a stay on the operation of the impugned resolution, but granted protection to Captain Amarinder Singh from custodial interrogation and directed further listing on 1st December, 2008. Dissatisfied with the High Court's Order, the Appellant approached this Court by way of a petition seeking special leave to appeal. The Appellant contended that the High Court ought to have stayed the report dated, 3rd September, 2008 and the Resolution and Notification dated, 10th September, 2008. He apprehended that a fresh election would be conducted in the intervening period, thereby compromising his rights.;