Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union Of India on 4 March, 2025
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ITEM NO.26 COURT NO.14 SECTION PIL-W
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Writ Petition(s)(Civil) (s). 699/2016
ASHWINI KUMAR UPADHYAY Petitioner
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ANR. Respondents
(With I.A. No.142097/2022-APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION, I.A. No.
73459/2019-APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, I.A. No.107427/2018-
APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, I.A. No.39027/2020-APPROPRIATE
ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, I.A. No.8016/2022-APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS,
I.A. No.81287/2018-CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, I.A. No.55244/2022-
CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, I.A. No.136819/2017- CLARIFICATION
/DIRECTION, I.A. No.2029/2020-CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, I.A.
No.143394/2021 -CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, I.A. No.156548/2022-
CLARIFICATION/ DIRECTION, I.A. No.54637/2017- CLARIFICATION/
DIRECTION, I.A. No.108743/2021- CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, I.A.
No.54552/2017-DIRECTIONS, I.A. No. 107431/2018-EXEMPTION FROM
FILING O.T., I.A. No.101624/2021- EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., I.A.
No.55246/2022-EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., I.A. No.130543/2018-
EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., I.A. No.168881/2022-EXEMPTION FROM
FILING O.T., I.A. No.103522/2019-EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., I.A.
No. 81286/2018-INTERVENTION APPLICATION, I.A. No.2083/2019-
INTERVENTION APPLICATION, I.A. No.204637/2022-INTERVENTION
APPLICATION, I.A. No.2027/2020-INTERVENTION APPLICATION, I.A. No.
127368/2018-INTERVENTION APPLICATION, I.A. No.108742/2021-
INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.127553/2020- INTERVENTION/
IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.20037/2023- INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.
55243/2022-INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.58124/2017-
INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.7992/2022- INTERVENTION
/IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.156559/2022–INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, I.A.
No.57812/2017-INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.127023/2018-
INTERVENTION/ IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.156545/2022- INTERVENTION/
IMPLEADMENT, I.A. No.2085/2019-PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN
PERSON, I.A. No.72938/2019-PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL
DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES and I.A. No.98425/2019-PERMISSION TO FILE
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES and I.A. No.130542/2018-STAY
APPLICATION)
Date : 04-03-2025 This matter was called on for hearing today.
Signature Not Verified
CORAM :
Digitally signed by
rashmi dhyani pant
Date: 2025.03.06
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DIPANKAR DATTA
15:55:47 IST
Reason: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANMOHAN
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Mr. Vijay Hansaria, Sr. Adv. (A.C.)
Ms. Sneha Kalita, AOR
Ms. Kavya Jhawar, Adv.
For Petitioner(s) :Mr. Gopal Shankarnarayanan, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, Adv.
Mr. Ashwani Kumar Dubey, AOR
Mr. Chandra Shekhar, Adv.
Ms. Trisha Chandran, Adv.
Ms. Shivani Vij, Adv.
Mr. Krishna Kumar Shukla, Adv.
For Respondent(s) :Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR
Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR
Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General
Mr. K M Nataraj, A.S.G.
Ms. Sonia Mathur, Sr. Adv.
Mr. V Mohana, Adv.
Mr. K Parmeshwar, Adv.
Mr. Mohd Akhil, Adv.
Mrs. Rajat Nair, Adv.
Mr. Apoorv Kurup, Adv.
Mr. Madhav Sinhal, Adv.
Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR
Mr. Sidhant Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR
Ms. Manyaa Chandok, Adv.
Ms. Ekssha Kashyap, Adv.
Mr. Sujay Jain, Adv.
Mr. Shiv Ram Sharma, AOR
Mr. Anandh Kannan N., AOR
Mr. Jayant Mohan, AOR
Ms. Adya Shree Dutta, Adv.
Ms. Meenakshi Chatterjee, Adv.
Mr. Karan Bharihoke, AOR
Mr. Shantanu Sagar, AOR
Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Gunjesh Ranjan, Adv.
Mrs. Divya Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Niharika Rai, Adv.
Mr. Shaurya Vardhan Singh, Adv.
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Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR
Ms. Anu K Joy, Adv.
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Mr. Santhosh K, Adv.
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Sanjay Kumar Tyagi, AOR
Mr. Pawan, Adv.
Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR
Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Ashiwan Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, AOR
Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR
Mr. Rishi Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR
Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. Rohit Bansal, Adv.
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv.
Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR
Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G.
Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv.
Mr. Ahanthem Henry, Adv.
Mr. Ahanthem Rohen Singh, Adv.
Mr. Mohan Singh, Adv.
Mr. Aniket Rajput, Adv.
Ms. Khoisnam Nirmala Devi, Adv.
Mr. Kumar Mihir, AOR
Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR
Mr. Abhinav Rana, Adv.
Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR
M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR
Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR
Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv.
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Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR
Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR
Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv.
Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Anandh Kannan N., AOR
Mr. Mahesh Thakur, AOR
Mr. Malak Manish Bhatt, AOR
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Amit Sharma, AOR
Mr. Dipesh Sinha, Adv.
Ms. Pallavi Barua, Adv.
Ms. Aparna Singh, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh Singh, Adv.
Mr. Vijay Hansaria, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Sneha Kalita, AOR
Ms. Kavya Jhawar, Adv.
Ms. Nandini Rai, Adv.
Mr. Satish Pandey, AOR
Mr. Prabhoo Dayal Tiwari, Adv.
Mr. Aakash Saini, Adv.
Mr. Braj Kishore Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Seema Patnaha, Adv.
Ms. Lalita Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Abhinav Yash Pandey, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Sudhakar Deshmukh, AOR
Mr. Nishant Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Ankur S. Savadikar, Adv.
Mr. Viraj M. Parakh, Adv.
Mr. Baldev Singh, Adv.
Mr. Divyansh Thakur, Adv.
Mr. Rajeev Kumar Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Rishabh Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Abhimanyu Singh, Adv.
Mr. Vishal Bainsla, Adv.
Mr. Bimlesh Kumar Singh, AOR
Mr. Nishant Anand, Adv.
Mr. Sudip Lodh, Adv.
Mr. Apoorv Kurup, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Nidhi Mittal, AOR
Ms. Jaya Choudhary, Adv.
Mr. Gurjas Singh Narula, Adv.
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Mr. P. N. Ravindran, Sr. Adv.
Mr. T. G. Narayanan Nair, AOR
Ms. Samyuktha H Nair, Adv.
Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR
Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv.
Ms. Yashika Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Ripul Swati Kumari, Adv.
Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Siddhesh Shirish Kotwal, AOR
Ms. Asmita Singh, AOR
Mr. Abheet Mangleek, Adv.
Mr. Tushar Nair, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh Anand, Adv.
Mr. Punishk Handa, Adv.
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR
Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.
Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.
Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv.
M/S. PLR Chambers And Co., AOR
Ms. Jesal Wahi, AOR
Ms. Enakshi Mukhopadhyay Siddhanta, AOR
Mr. Ravi Kumar S, Adv.
Mr. P. S. Sridhar Raj, Adv.
Mr. Kanhaiya Singhal, AOR
Mr. Kanhaiya Singhal, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Prasanna, Adv.
Ms. Parul Sharma, Adv.
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Ms. Aswathi M.k., AOR
Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR
Ms. Bipasa Tripathy, Adv.
Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, Sr. A.A.G.
Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR
Ms. Devyani Gupta, Adv.
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Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv.
Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv.
Ms. Tanvi Anand, Adv.
Mr. E. C. Vidya Sagar, AOR
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv.
Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR
Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Adv.
Mr. Nishant Rao, Adv.
Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR
Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G.
Mr. K. V. Sreemuthin, Adv.
Ms. Priyadarshini Priya, Adv.
Mr. Saransh Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Vishnu Jain, Adv.
Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR
Mr. Avdhesh K Singh, A.A.G.
Mrs. Prerna Dhall, Adv.
Ms. Akansha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shivam Ganeshia, Adv.
Mr. Prashant Singh, AOR
Mr. Ambuj Swaroop, Adv.
Mr. Chandan Kumar Jha, Adv.
Mr. M.a. Chaudhary, Adv.
Mr. Anil Shrivastav, AOR
Mr. Anupam Raina, AOR
Mr. Ankur Parihar, Adv.
Mr. Nishant Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Osheen Bhat, Adv.
Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR
Mr. Hashit Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Ambhoj Kumar Sinha, AOR
Intervenor-in-person
Mr. Anand Dilip Landge, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv.
Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR
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Mr. Ravindra S. Garia, AOR
Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR
Ms. Kriti Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Sagun Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Saaransh Shukla, Adv.
M/S. Gorkela Law Office, AOR
Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR
Mrs. Shashi Pathak, Adv.
Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Sunil Kumar Jain, AOR
Ms. Rashika Swarup, Adv.
Mr. Naman Jain, Adv.
Ms. Radhika Gautam, AOR
Mr. Vijay Kant Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv.
Mr. Varun Verma, Adv.
Mr. Sanjiv Kumar Jain, Adv.
Ms. Niharika Dewivedi, Adv.
Mr. Binay Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Naresh K. Sharma, AOR
Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR
Dr. Abhishek Atrey, Adv.
Mr. Ravindra Lokhande, Adv.
Ms. Vidyottma Jha, Adv.
Mr. B. K. Satija, A.A.G.
Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR
Mr. Keshav Mittal, Adv.
Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv.
Mr. Aman Dev Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Gyaneshwar Kumar Maheshwari, Adv.
Mr. Mohan Dattatraya Armakar, Adv.
Mr. Vishal Prasad, Adv.
Mr. Vivek Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Mahabir Singh, Adv.
Mr. Prakhar Garg, Adv.
Mr. Somanadri Goud Katam, AOR
Mr. Sirajuddin, Adv.
Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR
Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR
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Mr. Aravindh S., AOR
Mr. Abbas B, Adv.
Mr. Aadithya Aravindh, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR
Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR
Mr. Kabir Dixit, AOR
Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR
Mr. Abhimanue Shrestha, AOR
Ms. Sridevi Panikkar, Adv.
Mr. Pritesh Patni, Adv.
Mr. Azmat H. Amanullah, AOR
Ms. Rebecca Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Neeraj Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. J. N. Terdal, Adv.
Ms. Indra Bhagar, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Verma, Adv.
Ms. Diksha Verma, Adv.
Mr. Deepak Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. T. K. Nayak, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1. Counter affidavit has been filed by the respondent no.1-Union of India in compliance with the earlier order dated 10th February, 2025.
2. At paragraph 6 of such counter affidavit, reference has been made to a pending writ petition1 wherein prayers made are identical to the prayers made in the instant writ petition, which has been assigned by the Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India to this Bench.
3. To avoid conflict of decisions, both the writ petitions ought to be heard together.
1 W.P.(C) No.679/2021 8 9
4. In such view of the matter, let the records of the instant petition be placed before the Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India along with the other pending writ petition to obtain necessary orders for consolidation of both the writ petitions.
5. It has been pointed by Mr. Vijay Hansaria, learned amicus curiae, that despite obtaining liberty from this Court on the last occasion, the Election Commission of India2 has not filed any counter affidavit dealing with the contents of the writ petition.
6. Responding to this part of the submission, Mr. Sidhant Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the ECI, submits that the ECI is bound by legislation enacted by the Parliament in terms of Article 327 of the Constitution of India and, therefore, no separate affidavit on the issue of challenge to the vires of Sections 8 & 9 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 3 would be required from the side of the ECI.
7. Mr. Vijay Hansaria has also drawn our attention to an order dated 01 st November, 2017, passed by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court on this very writ petition, the concluding paragraph whereof reads as follows:-
“The Election Commission of India is also granted two weeks' time to bring on record an affidavit showing the nature of cases wherein the power under Section 11 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 has been exercised in the past.”
8. Mr. Vijay Hansaria fairly points out that though an affidavit was filed by the ECI on 15th November, 2017 in terms of the aforesaid order, the ECI may be directed to file an additional affidavit giving particulars of exercises undertaken by it under Section 11 of the RoP Act subsequent to filing of such affidavit. 2 ECI 3 RoP Act 9 10
9. On the point of filing an affidavit, as prayed, Mr. Sidhant Kumar has left it to the discretion of the Court while pointing out that Section 11 of the RoP Act is not under challenge in this writ petition.
10. In the interest of justice, we direct the ECI to file a similar affidavit indicating the nature of cases wherein power under Section 11 of the RoP Act has been exercised subsequent to 15th November, 2017.
11. Rejoinder affidavit be filed by the petitioner within two weeks.
12. List before the appropriate Bench immediately after obtaining orders from the Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India.
(RASHMI DHYANI PANT) (SUDHIR KUMAR SHARMA)
ASST. REGISTRAR-CUM-PS COURT MASTER (NSH)
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