- (1.) Respondent No. 2, Shri Tej Parkash Singh, was appointed as a Minister in the State of Punjab on the advice of the Chief Minister, Sardar Harcharan Singh Barar on 9-9-1995. At the time of his appointment as a Minister, he was not a Member of Legislative Assembly in Punjab. He failed to get himself elected as a Member of the Legislature of the State of Punjab within a period of six months and submitted his resignation from the council of Ministers on 8-3-1996. During the term of the same Legislative Assembly, there was a change in the leadership of the ruling party. Smt. Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Respondent No. 3, was, on her election as Leader of the Ruling Party, appointed Chief Minister of the State of Punjab on 21-11-1996. Respondent No. 2, who had not been elected as a Member of the Legislature even till then, was once again appointed as a Minister w.e.f. 23-11-1996. The Appellant filed a petition seeking writ of quo warranto against Respondent No. 2. It was stated in the petition that appointment of Respondent No. 2 for a second time during the term of the same legislature, without being elected as a Member of the Legislature was violative of constitutional provisions and, therefore, bad. The Division Bench of the High Court vide order dated 3-12-1996 dismissed the writ petition in limine. This appeal by special leave calls in question the order and judgment of the High Court dismissing the writ petition in limine.
(2.) Since, the meaningful question involved in this appeal revolves around the ambit and scope of Article 164 and in particular of Article 164(4) of the Constitution of India - let us first examine that Article:- "164. Other provisions as to Ministers.- (1) The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor. Provided that in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, there shall be a Minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and backward classes or any other work. (2) The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State. (3) Before a Minister enters upon his office, the Governor shall administer to him the oaths of office and of secrecy according to the forms set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule. (4) A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature of the State shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister. (5) The salaries and allowances of Ministers shall be such as the Legislature of the State may from time to time by law determine and until the Legislature of the State so determines, shall be as specified in the Second Schedule."
(3.) Under Article 164(1), the Governor shall appoint the Chief Minister exercising his own discretion, according to established practice and conventions. All other Ministers are to be appointed by the Governor on the Advice of the Chief Minister. In view of the provisions of Article 164(2) the Council of Ministers shall all be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State. This provision, in a sense, indicates that members of the Council of Ministers, shall all be members of the Legislature, to which the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible. This, however, is subject to an exception provided by Article 164(4) to meet an extraordinary situation, where the Chief Minister considers the inclusion of a particular person, who is not a member of the Legislature, in the Council of Ministers necessary. To take care of such a situation, Article 164(4) provides that if a non-member is appointed a Minister, he would cease to be a Minister unless in a short period of six consecutive months from the date of his appointment he gets elected to the Legislature.;