Kerala High Court disqualifies Idukki Block Panchayat President Raji Chandran for party disloyalty

The Kerala High Court on Thursday held that the 2022-elect to the post of Idukki Block Panchayat President, Raji Chandran, was disqualified from holding the post on account of her decision to switch political party loyalties after she was first elected in 2020 [Ancy Thomas v Raji Chandran & anr]..Consequently, Justice Mohammed Nias CP also found that Chandran would be barred from contesting as a candidate in any election to local authorities for six years. The Court passed the ruling after finding Chandran guilty of violating the law against defection in local bodies of Kerala, namely the Kerala Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, 1999. "The moment one becomes disloyal by his conduct to the political party, the inevitable inference is that he has voluntarily given up his membership, and more so when a member stands for election to contest against a candidate of his own party or coalition, it should be deemed that the member has voluntarily given up his membership of that particular party in whose name he has given the declaration. The conduct of the first respondent is more than enough to incur disqualification within the meaning of Section 3(1)(a) &(b) of the Act," the Court said. .Chandran was first elected to the Idukki Panchayat in 2020, and was one of seven members belonging to the United Democratic Front (UDF). The UDF coalition comprised of the Kerala Congress (M) PJ Joseph Group and the Indian National Congress (INC). At the time, Chandra swore allegiance to the INC. Chandran was sworn in as as the local body's President in 2020. The UDF coalition, which held a majority at the time, later agreed (in January 2021) that the President would step down after one year. Accordingly, Chandran resigned from the post of President in 2022.Ancy Thomas was the UDF's pick to stand as the next President of the local body. However, in the meanwhile, Chandran quit the UDF and contested again for the President post and was re-elected in 2022 with the support of UDF's rival, the Left Democratic Front (LDF). As a result, the UDF also lost its majority in the Panchayat body. Ancy Thomas challenged Chandran's re-election before the State Election Commission (SEC). The SEC observed that Raji Chandran had been disloyal to the INC/ UDF but did not disqualify her from the post. The SEC reasoned that there was not enough evidence to show that Chandran was aware of the party's decision to nominate Ancy Thomas as the next President. Thomas then approached the High Court for relief. The Court noted that the allegation was that Chandran had given sworn a declaration of allegiance to the INC which she went back on and that she was aware of the UDF's decisions but chosen to defy them.The Court went on to note that though Chandran has denied the allegation that she knowingly defied UDF/ INC, she would still incur disqualification for having switched loyalties after she was elected as a Panchayat member. "The first respondent (Chandran) must be taken to be a candidate who contested and won with the help of the opposite party (LDF), which act itself would incur disqualification within the meaning of the Act and Rule," the Court said.The Court proceeded to set aside the SEC's decision to dismiss the complaint by Thomas and concluded that Chandran was disqualified from holding the Panchayat post. .Ancy Thomas was represented by advocates Sachin Ramesh, TS Athira, and Akash Joshi.Standing Counsel Deepulal Mohan appeared for the State Election Commission.Advocate Liji J Vadakedom appeared for Raji Chandran. .[Read Judgment]