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The judgment also held that the in order to seek protection under the Karnataka Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, the councillors should not have resigned from the party.

Justice Nagaprasanna of Karnataka HC has held that quitting a political party to form another group will not amount to make the group a political party unless it is recognised by Election Commission of India (ECI).

The petitioners in this case were members of a political party and were elected coucillors of City Municipal Council (CMC). The party directed them to attend the election for the President and Vice President of CMC and vote for the candidate of the party, the petitioners however voted for a rival candidate. The judgment also mentions that the petitioners had resigned from the party. This lead the party to approach the Deputy Commissioner, Election Officer seeking their disqualification on the ground that they had defected from the party. The Deputy Commissioner disqualified the petitioners, which lead them to approach the court via writ petition. 

The judgment deals with Sections 3 and 4 of Karnataka Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defection) Act, 1987 further held that acting against a political party to which a person belongs to is always a peril to those members of the party. The petitioners contended that 7 out of the 9 elected councillors of the party had resigned, they could avail the exemption under section 3A of the act which draws out exemptions in case the party itself has split.

The court held that 3A is applicable only when there is a split in a political party and not it is not available to members who have resigned from the party. It is in this context that the court held that quitting a political party to merely form another party does not make the group a separate political party.

The judgment also goes into the meaning of resignation, it held that in legal parlance resignation is a spontaneous relinquishment of one’s relation to any office.

In this context, the court held that the petitioners had severed all ties from the party by submitting their resignation and hence cannot seek protection under the act.