# s. NARA YANASWAMI v. G. PANNERSEL V AM & ORS - **Citation:** [1973] 1 S.C.R. 172 - **Court:** Supreme Court of India - **Decided:** 1972-04-12 - **Bench:** S. M. Sikri, C.J .• A. N. Grover, A. N. Ray, D. G. PALF.XAil, M. H. Beg - **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/s-nara-yanaswami-v-g-pannersel-v-am-ors-5775 - **Pages:** 13 ## Headnote B ConstitutioJJ o/Imlia 1950, A.rt.t. 171 to 173 and ReprtsenJction of tht People 4ct (43 of 1951) s. 6-Candidate from Grodualer constit11mcy 1o ulis)ative Council-lj should bt a KTDduaJe, The respondent cbalknged the appellant'! cl~ to the Madras Legi.slalivt Council from the Madras District Gr:uluates' Coostitueocy en the grounds, (l) that, the pw-po&e of.Art. 171 of the Constitution waa C lo C0!1fa a right of ftmclional {!!presentation upon petsoll$ po:ssessina certain educational or other qualifications !0 that the appellant who was not • graduate could not be elected to ·the Legi:slative Council from tbe GroduaJCS' Cooltltueucy; (2} that, it would be absurd and destructive of the ~ of representation that an individual, who did not poee5S the ~ a.- buic qualification of .the electon. Uould be tbeir repreaentatm, aAd (3~ . that. the Con~tiaJtion, beioc an organic inslzwnent. D must be imapi'eted in 11 broad and liberal ma.aner !0 ae to gM: etrect to the ande~ principi.!S and purpoee& of the system of repte9entation sought to be embodied in it. The ..High Court &el aside the cll:ctiDA. Anowinr the appeal to flm Court, HELD: (l)(a) Gradu:rtes are not an occupational or vocati~al I If'~· but ~ly a body of. person& with particular ~ducatioool qualifi· ~ It would, therefor.e, n()t be cotTect to describe the additional ~ sought to be given to them in the Legislative Council as an 1l%1cmpt ao tntrodu~ functiooal or vocational representation. [181Bl (b) The qualillcati0118 of the elector oomtituting the clectoi'Qt.e, and of .thoec who can repreaent .each ekctorate, contemplated by the ~ tution and supplemented by Parliament, are separately set out fot tach f ~~ Aa ~pds tbe Legislative Council too qualificationi for the four e-...,..t.es are indi~tcd In Art. 171(3)(a): (b),(.:) and (d). The plain and ordinary mearung of ~ term "electorate is that it is tilt body of ~m who e~t. It does not take in the extended notion of a body P_ei"!!IOl51 el(:(;llnl! representatives from among1r th~m.s~trel. It does not Impose • reqUirement that the person to be chosen must also be a member of the electorate. (177D-FJ G • (c) 'Ille qualillcatioos of cfllle ~o be elec~d. v.e.re matters to which the attention of the law makers, both 1n the Constltuent ~m bly and in Parliament, was specifically directed. Hence. the omJSIIOO must ha\'C been deliberate. [ I81G1 R . v. Cleworrh, (1864) 4 B&S 927 and. Craies on Statute JAw6th ~ 1963 72, referred to. . (c) Tb~ legislative bistDry of tbe Articl~ also show!. tha!bethe ~= sioo by t.be Constitution m.;~ken or by Parliament. to ..... ~n nstituen<:Y tion u a qualification of tbc candidate from the Grod~~::Sdia co(Provinciai was deliberate. Tbt: provisions of the Gove~ent 0 u:ilificatioos of Legisla.tive Assemblies) Order, 1936, J{rescri;biDg t ~~ f~ representlltion persoo.s to be chosen from special constttuenC'Ies sc f India Act. 1935. !.11 the Legislative Councils und..-1" the Gov~he 0 re it was 90 intend· indicate that it was lnva,ri~bly _expressly prov_Jdi!te tor a seat W11S that ho ted, that a occessary quahficauon of h a . cand/d! m~mbtr to fill it. Such lbould bo entitled to vot~ fur tfte ~ 01rfe ~Oft:-[181 H·182.E) • qualification was not left to mere unp cau · . _ _, and . . hould be inkrpreted ID a b,.__. . (3) lt is tru~ that a ~omtltulloo . s . .• r "litc:ra1" in~rpretaliO!l itllefOt.ls ipilit, but the rule or "pl:un ~an:~ec~ oi in~rpretation -~-~ 0 COuld not altDgc:ther be abandoned. c: d this object can obviuu-xY dacover th.t: intention of the law make~. Ill\ ., used in the re~eva~ pro- ~ .best aclticvcd by tint look.lni at tho: ~~t"llteral interpl:etatiOf?, 11 '::! VlS&Ons. A logical corolla.cy of ~~ ru a case /or ~bi~ provJsiOG rule • ltatute m11y not be extended to m~et· aod an applu:auon pf ~ in clea~ly ~nd undoubrtd/y nor -~en mado; modili~tion of, wor~t 6-0ID ~ly involves that ac.hhllon 10• ~ible. Courb may ~lory provi!.ions is not ge!Y.!r.illY per· [17501 fbu tulc only to avoid a pa~nt absurdtty. ·' Domfxrl, A .l.~· Th~ Stale o, Ltd v..CoptaJtt Srl Ritnt Naral11 Mtdill & Ors. v. 1 [nJUranu Co. • 19S9 S.C. 459; British Jr~di11 GeMra 174 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [19'73] 1 S.C.R. Jtbar Singh & Ors., [1960] 1 S.C.R. 168; R. C. Jacob v. Union of lndic, [1963] 3 S.C.R. 800; State of Madhya Pradesh v. M/s. Azqd Bhar.:zt Finance Co. & Anr. A.l.R. 1967 S.C. 276; Hira Devi "'· Diatrict Board, Shabiahanpur, A.I.R. 1952 S.C. 362 & 365, ~fe~~ to. From the language as well as the legislative history of Arts. 171 and 173 of the Constitution and s. 6 of the Representation of tbe People Act, 1951, it cq_uld be presumed that the omissiott ~ of tbe qualifica~on that the representative of graduate should also be a graduate was delibe~ ra~. By presumin~ such an intention of the law makors, no absurdity results. By adding 'deemed to be ~airy' or 'implied' qualification of a rupresentative of the graduates, which the Constitution mak.~rs or Parliament could easily have imposed, t,lle Court would be invading the legislative sp~re. [18~F1 CIVIL APPEI..,LATE JURISDICTION: C.A. No. 189 of 1971. · Appeal under Section 116-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 from the judgment a!lld order dated January 8, 1971 of the Madras aigh Court in Election Petition No. 1 of 1970. . . V. P. Raman and Vineet Kumar, for the appellant. A B c I agdish Swurup, Socilitor -General of India, B. D. Sharma and · n S. P. Nayar, for the Election Commission of India. J!. Sen and Sobhag Mal lain, for the Supreme Court Bar Association. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Beg, J. This is an appeal under Section 116~A of the Representation of People Act, 1951. The appellant's election, held on 11-4-1970, to the· Madras Legislative Council from the Madras District Graduates' Constituency was set aside by a learned Judg~ of the Madras High Co.!lrt who decided aU the issues except one in favour of the appellant. The only issue decided against the appellant, which is now before us, was framed as follows : . "Whether the first Respondent was not qualified to stand for election_ to the Graduates Constituency on all or any of the grounds set out by the petitioner in paragraph 7 to. 9 of the election Petition" ? Paragraphs 7 to 9 of the election petition against ~ apwJlant are lengthy, prolix, and argumentative. The case and the contentions of the Respondent G. Panneerselvam, the petitioner before the High Court, .which were accepted by the High Court, may be summarised as follows : Firstly, the whole purpose of Artfcle 171 of the Constitution was to confer a right of "functional representation" upon persons possessing certain educational or otb~r qualifications so that the Appellant Narayanaswami, who had only passed the High School Leaving Examination and wa~ not a Graduate, could not be elected E. F G H A B c NARAYANASWAMI V. PANNERsBLVAM (Beg, J.) 175 at all to the Legislative Council from the Graduates' Constituency; 'secondly, it would be abiurd and destructive of the very concept of representation of e~pecially qualified persons that an individual who does not possess the essential or basic qualification of the electors should be a representative of those who are to be represented because of this _§pecial qualification of theirs; and, thirdly, the Constitution~ being an organic instrument for ,fue governance of the land, must be interpreted in a partict;larly broad and liberal manner so as to give effect to the underlying principles and purposes of the system of representation sought to be set up by it and not in such a way as to defeat them. Hence, the educationnl qualification of the electors should be read into the system of representation se( up by the Constitution for Legislative Councils as a necessary qualification _vf candidates in such constituencies. Authorities are certainly not wanting which indicate that Courts should interpret in a broad and. generous spirit the document which contains the fundamental law of the land or the basic principles of its Government. Nevertheless, the rule of "plain meaning" or o. "literal" interpretation, described in Maxwell'~ Interpretation. of Statutes as "the primary rule", could not be altogether abandoned today in interpreting any document. Indeed, we find Lord Ever;. shed, M.R., saying: "The length and detail of mooern legislation, has undoubtedly reinforced the claim of literal construction ~ the on1y safe rule". (See : Maxwell on "Interpretation of Statutes" E ., G H 12th Edition p. 28). It may be that the great maSs of modern legiSlation, a large part of which consists of statutory rules, makes· some departute from the literal rule of 'interpretation more easily justifiable today than.it was in the pas1, But, the object of interpretation and of "const:rl!ction" (which may be broader than "interpretation'') is to.disCover the.intention of the law makers in every case (See: Crawford on "Statutory Construction, 1940 Ed. para 157, 1>· 240-242). T@ object can, obviously, be best achieved by first looking at the language used in the relevant provisions. Other methods of extracting the meaning can be resorted to· only if the language used is contradictory, ambiguous, or leads really to absurd results. This is an el~mentary and basic rule of interpretation as well as of construction-processes which, from the point of view ~f prin~iples applied, coalesce and converge towards the common purpose 9f both which is to get at the real sense and meaning, so far as it may be reasonably possible to do this, of what is found laid down. The provisions whose meaning is under con· sideration have, therefore, to be eXamined before. applying any method of construction at .all. To these provisions we may now · tum. Article 168 of our Constitution shows that the State LegiSlatures in nine Sfa~ in India, including Madras, were to consist · ·of two Houses = the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative CoWl- 176 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [19'73] 1 S.C.R. cil. Article 170 lays do'Wn that the Legislative Assembly .-of each State "shall consist of members chosen by direct election ffom territorial constituen~ies in the State, in such a manner as the Parliament may by law determine". After that, comes Article 171 which may be reproduced in toto here : "171(1) The total number of members in.the Legislative Council of a State having such a Council shall not exceed one third of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly of that State : Provided that the total number of members in the ·Legislative Council of a State shall in no case be less than forty. (2) Until Parliament by law otherwise provides, the composition of the Legislative CQUncil of a State shall be as provided in clause (3). (3) Of the total number of members of the Legislative Council of a State- (a) as nearly a~ may be, one-third shall be elected by .electorates consisting of membe~ of municipalities, district boards and such other local. authorities. jn the State as Parliament may by 1aw specify; (b) as nearly as may be, one-twelfth shall be elected by electorates consisting of persons residing in tht;; State who have been· for at least three years graduates of any university in the tyrritory of India or have been for at .least three years in.possession of qualifications ptescribed by or under any law made by Parliament· as equivalent to that of a gradu~te of any such university; (c) as nearly as may be, one-twelfth shall be elected by electorates con_sisting of persons who have .been for at least three years engaged in teaching in such educa-. tional institutions within the State, not lower jn stan- . dard than that of a secondary school, as may be presenDed by or under any law made by Parliament; (d) as nearly as may ·be. one-third shall be elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly of the State from am.ongst persons who are not members of the Assembly. - (e) the remainder shall be nominated 1?y the Gover- .nor in accordance with the provisions of clause ( 5). (4) The members to be elected under sub-clauses (a), (b) and (c) of clause (3) shall be chosen in such territorial CODSiituenc(ies as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Padiament, and the elections under A B c D \ E F G H NARAYANASWAMI v. PANNER.SELVAM (Beg, ].) 177 A tbe said sub-clauses and under sub-clause (d} of the said clause shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. B c D E (5) The mem~rs to be nominated by the Governor under sub--clause (2) of clause (3) shall con$ist of persons havin~ special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as the following namely :- Literature, Science, Art. cooperative movement and social service." The term "electorate", used in Article 171(3) (a)(b) & (c) has neither been defined by the Constitution nor in any enactment by Parliament. Sec. 2(1)(e) of the Representation of People Act 43 of 1951, however, says: " 'elector,' in relation to a co.nstituency means a person whose name is entered in the electoral roll of that constituency for th~ time being· in force and who is not subject to any of the disqualificatiOilS mentioned in Sec. 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950". The plain and ordinary meaning of the term "electorate" is confined to the body of persons who elect. · It does not contain, within its ambit, the extended notion of a body of persons electing representatives "from amongst themselves". Thus, the use of the· term "electorate", in Article 171 (3) of our Constitution, could n~ by itself, impose a limi~ upon the field of cboice of members of the electorate by requiring that the person to be chosen must also be a member of the electorate. 1b-e· qualifications of the electors constituting the "electorate" and of those who can represent each "electorate", contemplated by the constitution and then supplemented by Pa':'liament, are separately set out for each house. We F may glance at the p~ions relating to ~gislative Assemblies first. G R Section 16 of the Representation of People Act 43 of 1950 lays down the qualifications of an elector negatively by prescribing wbo shall be disqualified for registration in an electoral roll. ·A disquatifi.ed -person is one who : (a) · is not a ci~en of India; or (b) is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court; or _ (c) is for the--time being disqualified from voting un~ the provisions of any law relating to corrupt prac. tices and other offences in connection with eleotions". Section 19 lays down f!he two conditions for registration on the e1ectoral roll of a constituency. The person to be registered must not be less than 21 years of age on· the qualifying date and must 178 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (19'73) 1 ~;C.R. be ordinarily resident in the constituency. The persons so register- ., ed, whose names appear on the electoral roll, constitute the electora~ for the legislative Assembly of each State.. Section 5 of the Representation of People Act, 43 of 1951 enacts: ''5. Qualifications for membership of a Legislative Assembly:- A person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat_in the Legislative ~bly of a State unless- (a) m the c~ of a seat reserved for the Scheduled Castes or for the Scheduled Tribes of that State, he is a . member of any of those castes or of those tribes, as the case may be, and is an elector for any Assembly constituency in that State; (b) in the case of a seat reserved for an autonomous di$trict of Assam, pther than a seat the constituency for which comprises the cantonment and municipalit;y of. Shillong, he is a member of a Scheduled Tribe of any autonomous distriqt and is an elector for the Assembly constituency in whicJ:t such seat or any other seat is reserved for that district; and . (c) in· the case of any other pt, he is an elector for any Assembly constituency in that State"; Conrlqg tO the Legislative Council, we find that the qualificationsforth~four "electorates" are indicated by Art. 171(3)(a)(b)(c) It (d). Arid, the qualificati!Jns of candidates for seats in a Legislative Coun~il are given _in Section 6, of the Representation of People Act 43 OJ; 1951 which lays down: ''6. Qualifications for mem ~rship o! a Legislative Council.- (!) A person sllall .not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the .LegiSlative Council of a State to be filled by election unless he is an elector for any Assembly constituency in that State. (2) A person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the Legislative Council of a &tate to be fille4 by nomination by the Governor unless he is ordinarily resident in the State'• . . A look at Article 171(2), set out above, indicates that the com-- position of the Legislative Council of a State was a matter to be a)SQ -provided for by law made by Parliament. It is evident that the . constitution makers had directed their attention specificaJly towards the methods of election and composition of the legislature A B c D E F G H A B c D E ., G H NA!tAYANASWAMl v. PANNERSELVAM (Beg, ] .) 179 of each State. They themselves prescribed some qual~cations to be possessed by members of each House of the Legislature~ Article 173 lays down :- "173. A ·person shall not be qualified to be ch~en to.fill a seat in the Legislature of a State unless he- ( a) is a citizen of India, and makes and subscribes before some persop authorised in that behalf by the Election Commission an oath or affirmation according to the 1form set out for the purpose in the Thlrd Schedule; (b) is, in the case of a seat in ·the Legislative ~em bly, not less ~ ~enty-five years of .age and, m the case of a seat in the Legislative Council, not less than thirty years of age; and . (c) possesses such other qualifications as may be ·. prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament". An important and yery noticeable difference between qualifications prescribed by P~liament for the membership of a Legislative Assembly by Secti9n 5 of the Representa~on. of People. Act of 1951 and those for the membership of a LegiSlative Council by Section 6 of that Act is that, so far as a member .. of the .Legislative Assembly is concerned, he or she has to be an Elector in the Constituency from which he or she stands, but a member of a Legislative Council in a State is n'ot, similarly, required to be a member of the elec.torate. All that Parliament says, in Section 6 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, is that the person to be chosen as a member of the Legislative Council has to Qe "an elector for any Assembly constituency" in the State. to whose legislative Council he was to be chosen. He has to be "ordinarily resident". in the State to qua.lify Jor nomination. No other qualifications, apart from those found in Article 173 of the Constitution and Section 6 of the Repre:S.entation of People .Act of 1951, are to be found laid down anywh~re . But, an additional quali6.cation was found, by tbe iudgmellit under appeal before us, Ito exist by resorting to a presumed legislative ihtent and •then practically adding it to those expressly laid down. It may be ~sible to Jook ·for legislative intention in materials outs~de the four·co~e~s of a statute where its language is really ambiguous or conflicting. But, where no such difficulty arises the mere fact that the intentions of the law . .malers, sought to ~ d~~onstrated by what was s~id .bY some of them or by those adVJsmg them when the ConstitutJOn was on the anvil were really differ~nt from ~ r~ult whi.c~ clearly follow~ from the langua~ used m the Legtslatlve proviStons under cons1deration, could not authorise the use of such an exceptional mode of construction. "It is well acc~pted", said Lord Morris (See: Davies Jankins & 180 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1973] 1 S.C.R. Co. v. Davies)\ "that the beliefs and assumptions of those who frame Acts of Parliament cannot make the law". A The judgment· under appeal, after discussing the manner in which Article 171 of the Constitution was framed and the: different views expresseq about the nature of the Second Chambers , to be set UJ> by it in our States, says : "The system of funcB ltional, whic}J is also ·called occupational representation, as distinguished from territorial representation, was borrowed from the Irish C~nstitution and that is the underlying principle in Article 1 71. The opinion of political thinkers and ·statement on the wisdom of such representation may not be unariimous. Whatever be the divergent views; the accomplished fact in the Constitution is that such a representation has been given recognition and it has to · C be implemented. In ma 1dng the Legislative Council as a repr~ sentative body, the framers of the Constitution have not made .it exclusively one of elected representatives according to their occupations. It is intended to be a hetergenous and more broad based body consisting of perwns of different walks of life, some elected and some nominated, each with ·the experience in his own D field of activity". The learned Judge conCluded; "It is with these objects that clauses (a), {b), and (c) of Article 171(3) have been · conceived so that persons in those walks of life could make their contribution to the Legislative functions of the State. Article 171 in fixing the composition of the Legislative Council as a functional chamber, has also indirectly laid down certain qualifications and E also disqualifications of members to be elected thereunder". Whatever may haw been the opinions of Constitution makers cr of their advisers, wh9se views are cited in the judgment under appeal, it is not possib]_e to say, on a perusal of Article 171 of the Constitution, that the Second Chambers set up in nine States jn India were meant to incorporate the principle of what is known as "functional" or "vocatjonal" representation. which has been advocated by Guild-Socialist and Syndicalist Schools of political thought. . Some of the observations quoted above, in the judgment under appeal itself, militate with the conclusions reached there. All that we can infer from our Constitutional provisions is that additional representation or weightage was given to persons possessing special type of knowledge and experience by enabling them to elect their sp~ial representatives also for Legislative Councils. The concept of such representation does not carry with it, as a necessary consequence, the further notion that the representative must also possess the very qualifications of those he represents. In the case of the Graduates' constituency, it is provided in Article 171 (3)(b) that the electors must have held their degr~ (1) 1967 2 W.L.R. p. 1139@ 1156. F G H . A B c D E ·- F G H NARAYANASWAMI V. PANNERSELVAM (Beg, /.) i'fH for at least three years before they become qualified-an electors. Thus, in laying down tJ?.e test of competence of voters of such a con!itituency, more possession of degrees by them was not considered sufficient. Moreover, graduates are not an occupational or vocational group but mesely a body -of persons with an educational qualification. It would, therefore, not be correct to describe the addition~ representation sought to be given to them as an attempt to introduce the "functional" or "vocational'' principle. On the face of it, Article 171 appears to be designed only to give a right to choose their representatives to those who have certain types of. presumably valuable ~owledge and education. If the presumptioa of their better competence to elect a suitable tepresentative in there, as we think tha.t there must be, it would be ~ the mem- . hers of such a constituency themselves to decide whether a person ·who stands for election from their constituency possesses the right type of knowledge,. experience, and wisdom which satisfy certain stan4ards. It may well be that the constitution makers, acting upon . such a presuri:tption, had intentionally left the educational qualifications qf a candidate for election from the graduates constituency unspecified. A test laid down by Blackburn J. in R. v. Cleworth(l), to determine what the correct presumption, arising from an omission in a statute should be~ was whether what was omitted but sought to be brought within the legislative intention was .. "known" to the law makers, and could, therefore, be ''supposed to have been omitted intentionally". "It makes no difference", says Craies in "Statute Law''(2) "that the omission on the part of the legislature was a mere oversight, and that without doubt the Act would have been drawn otherwise had the attention of the legislature been directed to the oversjght at the time the Act was under discussion", In the case before us, it could not possibly be said that the que:s· tion to be dealt with ~as .. not "known" to the legislators. It could n:>t even be said that qualifications of the electors as well as of those to be elected were not matters to which the attention of the law makers, both in the Constituent Assembly and in Parliament was not specially directed at· all or that the omission must . be by mere oversight The provisions discussed above demonstrate amply how legislative. attention was paid to the qualifications of the electors as ":ell a~ of the elected in every case. Hence, the correct presumption, 10 such a case, would be that the omission was deliberate. A glance at the legislative history lying behind Article 171 also enables us to reach the conclusion that the omission by the Constitution makers or by Parliament to prescribe graduation as (l) [1864] 4 B&S 927, 9·34 (2) Crains on Statute Law-5th En. 1963 p. 72. 182 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (19'73] 1 ft.C.R. must be deliberate. Sections 60 and 61 of the Government of India ,Act, 1935, deal with composition of Provincial legislatures and of the two Chambers of such legislatures. The Upper Chambers in the Provincial Legislatures were to be composed of members retiring every third year in accordance with provisions of the Fifth Schedule to the Act. R1.1le 10 of ·this Schedule lays down: "In a Province in which any seats are to bd filled by representatives of backward areas or backward tribes, representatives of commerce,, industry, mining and planting, repr~entatives of landholders, rep~ta~ves of universities or representatives of labour, persons to fill those seats .•.............. shall be chosen in such manner. as may be prescrib,ed". . A B c On 30th April, 1936, the Government af India (Provincial' Legislative Assemblies) Order of 1936 was issued· by His Majesty in Council. It prescribed the qualifications of persons to be chosen from the ''special cqnstituencies" set up for representatiofl in the Legislative Councils. ·_A glance at the provisions relating to these qualifications, including those for the University seats, indicates D that it was invariably e~pressly provided, where it was so intended, that a necessary qt~alification of a candidate for a seat was that he or she should be "entitled to vote for the choice of a member to fill it". Hence, legislative history on the subject would also indicate that, whenever any qualification of the candidate was intended to be impose