# HAR SHARAN VERMA v. TRIBHUV AN NARAJN SINGH, CHIEF MINISTER U.P. & ANR

- **Citation:** [1971] Supp. 1 S.C.R. 1
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1971-03-16
- **Case number:** CIVIL APPELLATE JTJRJSDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2205 ·Of 1970
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/har-sharan-verma-v-tribhuv-an-narajn-singh-chief-minister-u-p-anr-5512
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

HAR SHARAN VERMA
v.
TRIBHUV AN NARAJN SINGH, CHIEF MINISTER
U.P. & ANR.
March 16, 1971.
1
A
(S. M. SIKRI, C. J., J. M. SHELAT, C. A.
VAIDIALINGAM,
B
A. N. GROVER AND A. N. RAY, JJ.j
Constitlltion of India, Art. 164(4)-Appointment as C~irf Minister of a
person who is not a member of State Legislature-Yalidity'of app9in11ne 111.
The first respondent was appointed as Chief Minister of U.P. on October 18, 1970. His appointment was phallenged on the ground that he was
not a member of either house of leaiS!ature at the time of appointment. In
C
appeal to this Court against the High Court's judgment dismissing the
petition under Art. 226,
HELD : Ci) Clause (4) of Art. 164 must be interpreted in the context
of Arts. 163 and 164 of the Constitution. Article 163(1) provides that
"there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the h•ad
to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions except in so
far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions
D
or any of them in his discretion." Under cl.(!) of Art. 164 the Chief
Minister has to be appointed by him on the advice of the Chief Minister.
They all hold office during the pleasure of the Governor. Clause (!)·does
not provide any qualification for the person to be sel.:cted by the Governor
as Chief Minister or minister.
But cl. (2) make• it essential that the
council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the.
~islativ~
Assembly of the State. This is the only condition that the Constitution
E
prescribes in this behalf. There Is thus no reason
why ·_tile plain
words of cl.(4) of Art. 164 should be cut· down in any . rnannet and
confined to a case where a Minister loses· for Some reason his ·seat iii the
Legislature of the State. That this is the correct meaning to be given to
Art. 164(4) is supporte<I by the P<oceedings of the Constituent Assembly
and the position as it ,Qbtains In England, Australia and South Africa. [2G·
H, 3EJ ..
ftl) If the Governor of a State appoints a Chief Mfuister and Council'
P
of Minister. none of whom are mc;mbers of the .State Leaislature, and the'
Legislative Assembly of the State tQ wlioin the Council of Miriistera would
be responsible endorses this unlikely _Council of . Minillters, there is noth'
ing in the-Coristitution: which would make this appoilitmetlt illesal. !3AB].
(iii) There can be no difficulty in Minilters who are not members "of
the Legislature beina present at the time of the' Governor's address because
Gi
by virtue of Art. 177 they would be entiUed · to be present at the meeting
of the Legislature addressed. by the Go:vemor.
[JC-DJ.
CIVIL APPELLATE JTJRJSDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2205 ·Of
1970.
Appeal from the judgment and order dated November 4, 1970
of the Allahabad High Court in Lucknow Bench in writ petition
H
No. 1402 of 1970.
.
The appellant appeared in person.
1-1 S.C. lndia/71
2
A
B
c
D
E
G
H
SUPREME COIJllT ltEl'OllTS
[1971] stm. s.c.11.
L. M. Singhvi, R. Bana and-0. P. Rana, for the respondents.

## Text

HAR SHARAN VERMA
v.
TRIBHUV AN NARAJN SINGH, CHIEF MINISTER
U.P. & ANR.
March 16, 1971.
1
A
(S. M. SIKRI, C. J., J. M. SHELAT, C. A.
VAIDIALINGAM,
B
A. N. GROVER AND A. N. RAY, JJ.j
Constitlltion of India, Art. 164(4)-Appointment as C~irf Minister of a
person who is not a member of State Legislature-Yalidity'of app9in11ne 111.
The first respondent was appointed as Chief Minister of U.P. on October 18, 1970. His appointment was phallenged on the ground that he was
not a member of either house of leaiS!ature at the time of appointment. In
C
appeal to this Court against the High Court's judgment dismissing the
petition under Art. 226,
HELD : Ci) Clause (4) of Art. 164 must be interpreted in the context
of Arts. 163 and 164 of the Constitution. Article 163(1) provides that
"there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the h•ad
to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions except in so
far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions
D
or any of them in his discretion." Under cl.(!) of Art. 164 the Chief
Minister has to be appointed by him on the advice of the Chief Minister.
They all hold office during the pleasure of the Governor. Clause (!)·does
not provide any qualification for the person to be sel.:cted by the Governor
as Chief Minister or minister.
But cl. (2) make• it essential that the
council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the.
~islativ~
Assembly of the State. This is the only condition that the Constitution
E
prescribes in this behalf. There Is thus no reason
why ·_tile plain
words of cl.(4) of Art. 164 should be cut· down in any . rnannet and
confined to a case where a Minister loses· for Some reason his ·seat iii the
Legislature of the State. That this is the correct meaning to be given to
Art. 164(4) is supporte<I by the P<oceedings of the Constituent Assembly
and the position as it ,Qbtains In England, Australia and South Africa. [2G·
H, 3EJ ..
ftl) If the Governor of a State appoints a Chief Mfuister and Council'
P
of Minister. none of whom are mc;mbers of the .State Leaislature, and the'
Legislative Assembly of the State tQ wlioin the Council of Miriistera would
be responsible endorses this unlikely _Council of . Minillters, there is noth'
ing in the-Coristitution: which would make this appoilitmetlt illesal. !3AB].
(iii) There can be no difficulty in Minilters who are not members "of
the Legislature beina present at the time of the' Governor's address because
Gi
by virtue of Art. 177 they would be entiUed · to be present at the meeting
of the Legislature addressed. by the Go:vemor.
[JC-DJ.
CIVIL APPELLATE JTJRJSDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2205 ·Of
1970.
Appeal from the judgment and order dated November 4, 1970
of the Allahabad High Court in Lucknow Bench in writ petition
H
No. 1402 of 1970.
.
The appellant appeared in person.
1-1 S.C. lndia/71
2
A
B
c
D
E
G
H
SUPREME COIJllT ltEl'OllTS
[1971] stm. s.c.11.
L. M. Singhvi, R. Bana and-0. P. Rana, for the respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Slkri, C. J. In this appeal by certificate granted by the High
Court under Art. 132 of the Constitution a short question 86 to
the interpretation of cl. 4 of Article 164 of the Constitution arises.
This question has arisen in connection with the appointment on
October, 18, 1970, of Shri Tribbuvan Narain Singh as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was not a member of either House of
Legislature of the Srate of Uttar Pradesh at the time of bis appointment.
The appellant, who is a rate-Payer of the Lucknow Constituency to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative As$embly, filed a petitioi)
under Art. 226 of the Constitution in the High Court cballenging
the appointment of the respondent as Chief Minister. The High
Court dismissed the petition but granted a certificaite under Art.
132 of the Constitution, and the appeal is now before us.
Article 164(4) reads as follows :
"164(4) A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature of the
State sball at the expiration of that periodi cease to be a
Minister."
The appellant contends that this clause only applies when a Miw-
$ter, who is a Member of the Legislature of the State, loses his
seat and the idea behind cl. (4) of Art. 164 is to give him a period
of six months to get himself re-elected. The learned Counsel for
the respondent, Mr. Singhvi, contends thait the scope of cl. (4)
cannot be whittled down in this manner as there is no warrant
in the language of the article.
He further says that even in England a person can be a Minister without being a Member of the
House of Commons or the House of Lords. He further points
out that a number of i:onstitutions contain similar provisions.
It seems to us that cl. (4) of Art. 164 must be interpreted in
the context oi Arts. 163 and 164 of the Constitution.
Article
163(1) provides that "there shall be a Council of Ministers with
the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in
the exercise of bis functions, except in so far as he is by or under
this Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them
in his discretion." · Under cl.(!) of Art. 164, the Chief Minister
has to be appointed by the Governor a.nd the other Ministers have
to be appointed by him on the advice of the Chief Minister. They
all bold office during the pleasure of the Governor. Cause (!)
does not provide any qualification for the person to be selected
by the Governor as the Chief Minister or Minister, but cl. (2) makes
it essential that the Council of Ministers sha.Jl be collectively responsible to the Legislative As$embly of the State. This is the only
condition that the Constitution prescribes in this behalf.
HAil SllAllAN VAllMA v, T. N. SINGH (Sikri, C. J.)
The appellant says that if the interpretation put by the High
Court is correct it would be possible for a Governor to appoint
a. Chief Minister and Ministers none of whom are Members of
the State Legislature. He said that this could not have been contemplated. But if the Legislative Assembly of the State to whom
this Council of Ministers would be collectively responsible endorses
this nnlikely Council of Ministers there is nothing in the Constitution which would make this appointment illegal.
The appellant drew our a.ttention to Art. 175 in which it is
provided that "the Governor may address the Legislative Assembly
or, in the case of a State having a Lagislative Council, either House
of !he Legisla.ture of the State, or both Houses assembled together,
ancl may for that purpose require the attendance of Members."
He .said that it would be rather strange that the Ministers, who
were not members of either the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council would not be present. But it seems to us that by
virtue of Art. 177 the Ministers, even if they are not Members of
a Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council would be entitled
to be present at such a meeting.
It seems to us that in the context of the other provisions of
the Counstitution referred to above there-is no reason why the plain
words of cl. ( 4) of Art. 164 should be cut down in any manner and
confined to a case where a> Minister loses for some reason his seat
in the Lei;slature of the State. We are assured that the meaning
we have given to cl. (4) of Art. 164 is the correct one from the
proceedings of the Constituent Assembly and the position as it
obtains in England, Austrdia and South Africa.
An amendment(') was proposed in the Constituent Assembly
that the following be substituted :
"A Minister shall, at the time of his being chosen as
such be a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of the States as the case may be."
This amendment was, however, negatived.
3
A
B
c
D
E
,
It is interesting to note the position in England. According
G
to Jennings(') :
"It is a well-settled convention that these ministers
should be either peers or members of the House of the
Commons. There have been occasional exceptions. Mr,
(I) Constituent Assembly Debates dated June I, 1949 Oftlcial Report
H
Vol. VIII. p. s~t.
(2) Cabin~ Government by Jennings-third edition, page 60.
.A
B
c
D
E
G
H
SUPREME COURT RllPORTS
[1971] SUPP. s.c.R.
Gladstone once held office out of Parliament for nine
months. 'The Scottish Law officers sometimes, as in 1923
and 1924. are not in parliament, General
Smuts was
minister without portfolio . and a member of the War
Cabinet from 1916 until 1918. Mr. Ramsay MacDonald
and Mr. Malcolm MacDonald were members of the Cabinet though not in Parliament from the general eleetion of
November 1935 until early in 1936."
"The House of Commons is, however,
critical of
such exceptions."
S. 64 of the Commonwelth of Australia Constitution Act
inter a/ia provides that "after the first general election no Minister
of State shall hold office for a longer period than three months
unless he is or becomes a senetor or a member of the House ot
representatives." Commenting on this Quick & Garran(~ state as
follows :
"The appointment of a Federal Ministry will necessarily precede the election of the first Federal Parliament.
There must be a Ministry to assist and advise the Governor General in the performance of Executive
Acts
essential for the conduct of the first general election. The
first Federal Ministry. cannot at their appointment be
members of the Federal Parliament, because at the time
of their appointment there is no such Parliament in
existence.
After the first general election, however, no
Federal Minister is permitted to hold office for a longer
peribd than three months, unless he is or becomes a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.
Section 32 of the Constitution Act of South Australia (4th January, 1856) contained a similar
provision,
viz .. that after the first general election of the
South
Australian Parliament, no person should hold the offices
of' Chief Secretary. Attorney-Oeneral, Treasurer, Commissioner of Crown Lands; and Immigration, or Commissioner of Public Works, for more than three calendar
months, unless he should be a member of the Legislative
Council or House of Assembly."
This shows that Art. 164 (4l has an ancient lineage.
Section 14< 1) of the South Africa Act, 1909 reads thus :
"The Govemor-Generaf may appoint officers not
exceeding (twelve) in number to administer such departments of State of the Union as the Governor-General in
(3) "Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth" by
Quick & Garrail:, p. 711.
HAR >HARAN VERMA v. T. N. SING!! (Sikri, C. J.)
5
Council may establish; such officers shall hold
office
A
during the pleasure of the Governor-General. They shall
be members of the Executive Council and shall be the
King's ministers of State for the Union. After the first
general election of members of the House of Assembly,
as hereinafter provide, no minister shall hold office for
a longer period than three months unless he is or becomes
B
J member of either House of Parliament."
Hahlo and Kahn(') state thus :
"The rule of responsible government that Ministers
must be Members of Parliament is ensured by the statutory requirement that they be or within three months
C
become members of either House."
In the result the appeal fails and is dismissed.
There will
be no order as to costs.
G.C.
Appeal dismissed.
(4) ;,The British Commonwealth-The Deve opment of its Laws and
Coustitutic'ns" by Hahlo & Kahn (Vol. Sp. 130).
'