If Elected Representatives Want To Change Political Affiliation, They Must Resign & Face People's Mandate Again : Kerala High Court

If elected representatives want to change political affiliation, then they must resign and face the mandate of the people again, observed the Kerala High Court."If the elected representative wants to change his policy or political affiliation, he has to resign and face the mandate of the people again. That is the moral side of democracy. Otherwise, it will be a unilateral withdrawal from the bond executed with the people by the elected representative. It will be an insult to the will of the people. But the people can show their will to such a representative in the next election either by supporting him or by defeating him. That is the beauty of democracy."The Court made this observation while granting bail to five persons accused of assaulting a lady councillor of Koothattukulam Nagara Sabha.Kala Raju, an LDF Councillor was allegedly abducted by her own party members on January 18 over her decision to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion moved by the UDF. It is alleged that to escape from that case, the present assault case is registered against UDF members at the instance of LDF workers as a counter-blast.Justice P.V.Kunhikrishnan observed that both the LDF and UDF are trying to take the law into their own hands, instead of approaching the people in a democratic manner. Court stated, “The proper manner by which a person is to be defeated in a democratic set-up is through the ballot papers and not by using weapons or by committing vandalism. In this case, both sides are trying to take the law into their own hands instead of approaching the people in a democratic manner.”The allegation against the five petitioners is that they assaulted the de facto complainant when she reached the Nagara Sabha Office to attend the no-confidence motion and she sustained injuries. It is also alleged that the petitioners pulled her saree and outraged her modesty. It is to be noted that Koothattukulam Nagara Sabha is now governed by LDF, with a majority of one seat, and if Kala Raju who is an LDF Councillor decides to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion moved by UDF, then the LDF lose their power. It was for this reason that Kala Raju was allegedly abducted by her own party workers. It is stated that to escape from that crime, the present crime is registered at the instance of LDF workers. Crime was registered against the petitioners at Koothattukulam Police Station, alleging commission of offences under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (wrongful restraint), 74 (assault or criminal force to women's modesty), 76 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 189 (unlawful assembly), 191 (rioting) and 190 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the BNS. The Court stated that representatives are elected by people in a democratic manner and if such elected representative change their political affiliation, they must face people's verdict in the next election. The Court stated that elected representative who change their political affiliation should not be attacked physically, and must face will of people through ballot paper in the next election. Court stated, “People can show their will to such a representative in the next election either by supporting him or by defeating him. That is the beauty of democracy. But an elected representative going against the will of the people should not be confronted physically by attacking that representative. The people can show their power through their ballot papers.”In the facts of the case, the Court noted that these two crimes occurred as a result of the embarrassment of LDF workers since their Councillor was suddenly changing her political affiliation. As such, the Court allowed the bail application. Counsel for Petitioners: Advocates V.John Sebastian Ralph, Ralph Reti John, Vishnu Chandran, Giridhar Krishna Kumar, Geethu T.A., Mary Greeshma, Liz Johny Krishnapriya SreekumarCounsel for Respondent: Senior Public Prosecutor Noushad K ACase Title: K R Jayakumar v State of Kerala Case No: BAIL APPL. NO. 1179 OF 2025Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 66Click here to Read/Download Order

If Elected Representatives Want To Change Political Affiliation, They Must Resign & Face People's Mandate Again : Kerala High Court

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The proper manner by which a person is to be defeated in a democratic set-up is through the ballot papers and not by using weapons or by committing vandalism, the Court said.

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