D. P. Wadhwa ( 1 ) THE petitioner claiming herself to be Presidentof the Indian Nursing Council (I. N. C.) has filed this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution praying for a writ direction or order striking downan office order dated 24-3-1992 of the respondents, or in the alternativecalling upon the respondents to allow the petitioner to continue as Presidentof the I. N. C. There are two respondents. First respondent is representedthrough the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and secondrespondent is Mr. R. K. Sood, Vice President, I. N. C. , who at the time offiling this writ petition was also working as Acting President of I. N. C. Theimpugned letter is of the first respondent addressed to the Secretary, I. N. C. ,with copies both to the petitioner and the second respondent. In this letter itwas stated that petitioner ceased to be the President of the I. N. C. w. e. f. 7/01/1992 on cessation of her membership u/sec. 3 (1) (m) of the Indiannursing Council Act, 1947 (for short the Act ). It was, therefore, suggestedthat it was necessary to hold fresh election of the President. ( 2 ) I. N. C. is constituted under the Act which Act has been enacted inorder to establish a uniform standard of training for nurses, midwives andhealth visitors. Sec. 3 of the Act gives the Constitution and composition ofthe Council. Under Sub-section (1) of this Section, Central Government is toconstitute a Council consisting of various members as set out in Clauses (a) to (o ). For our purposes Clauses (a) and (m) are relevant and these are asunder :- (A) One nurse enrolled in a state register elected by each Statecouncil;x x x (m) the Superintendent of Nuring Services (by whatever namecalled) ex-officio from each of the States in the two groups mentioned below, each group of States being taken in rotation in thefollowing order, namely. (i) Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradeshmadras, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana; (ii) Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Mysore, Orissa, Punjab and Rajasthan;x X x ( 2 ) UNDER Sub-section (2) of Section 3; the President of the Councilis to be elected by the members of the Council from amongst themselves andthe President is to hold office for five years. (i) Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradeshmadras, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana; (ii) Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Mysore, Orissa, Punjab and Rajasthan;x X x ( 2 ) UNDER Sub-section (2) of Section 3; the President of the Councilis to be elected by the members of the Council from amongst themselves andthe President is to hold office for five years. Under Section 4, the Councilconstituted under Section 3 shall be a body corporate by the name of theindian Nursing Council having perpetual succession and a common seal, withpower to acquire property and shall by the said name sue and be sued. Undersub-section (1) of Section 5, election under Sub-section (1) of Section 3 ofstate Councils shall be conducted in accordance with the rules made in thisbehalf by the respective State Governments and where any dispute arisesregarding any such election it shall be referred to the State Governmentconcerned whose decision shall be final. Section 6 provides for term of officeand casual vacancies. Sub-sections (1) and (2) are relevant and are asunder:- " (1) Subject to the provisions of this Section; an elected ornominated member, other than a nominated President, shallhold office for a term of five years from the date of his electionor nomination or until his successor has been duly elected ornominated, whichever is longer. (2) An elected or nominated member may at any time resign hismembership by writing under his hand addressed to thepresident, and the seat of such member shall thereuponbecome vacant. " ( 3 ) THEN Regulations have been framed by the Indian Nursingcouncil under Sub-section (1) of Section 16 of the Act and Regulations 35and 36 appearing in Part V relating to resignation and filing of casual vacancies are again relevant and are as under :- "35. A member desiring to resign his/her seat on the Councilshall send his/her resignation in writing to the President or Secretary and his/her resignation shall take effect from the date specified by him/her in this behalf or from the date receipt of his/herletter by the President or Secretary whichever is later. 36. A member desiring to resign his/her seat on the Councilshall send his/her resignation in writing to the President or Secretary and his/her resignation shall take effect from the date specified by him/her in this behalf or from the date receipt of his/herletter by the President or Secretary whichever is later. 36. When a casual vacancy occurs by reason of the death,resignation of a member, a report shall be made forthwith bypresident to the Central Government who shall take steps to havethe vacancy filled by nomination or election as the case may be, bythe authority or constituency by which the member whose death orresignation has caused the vacancy was nominated or elected. " ( 4 ) WE may also note Regulations 8 and 10 of the West Bengalnursing Council Regulations which are as under : "8. Not less than 14 days notice of any ordinary meeting includingits Agenda papers shall be given to each member of the Councildirected to such address as he shall from time to time furnishto the Registrar. 10. No business which is not upon the Agenda paper shall bediscussed at any meeting of the Council (except routinebusiness) unless the President declares such business to be ofan urgent nature, and is supported by two thirds of themembers present and voting. " ( 5 ) THERE is no dispute that the petitioner was first a member underclause (m) of Section 3 (1) of the Act. Under this clause she was nominatedon 7 Jan. , 1987 and as per provisions of the Act her term was to expire on 7/01/1962. On 6/10/1989 she was elected President of the I. N. C. for a period of five years under Section 6 of the Act. But she would havevacated the office of President on 7/01/1992 on her ceasing to be athere member under category 3 (1) (m) of the Act. ( 6 ) ONE Ms. Bani Chatterjee was a member of the Council underclause (a) having been elected by the West Bengal Nursing Council on 2/11/1989 which fact was communicated by the West Bengal Nursingcouncil by letter dated 4/11/1991. Her term of five years was,therefore, to expire on 2/12/1994. ( 7 ) UPTO this stage there is no dispute between the parties. ( 8 ) THE case of the petitioner, however, is that Ms. Her term of five years was,therefore, to expire on 2/12/1994. ( 7 ) UPTO this stage there is no dispute between the parties. ( 8 ) THE case of the petitioner, however, is that Ms. Bani Chatterjeeresigned her membership under Section 3 (1) (a) on 12/09/1991 andshe was got elected by the West Bengal Nursing Council on this very day inthe meeting held on 12/09/1991. She, therefore, says that it is immaterial whether her membership of the Central Council is relatable toclause (m) or Clause(a) and so long as she continue to be the member ofthe Council she would continue to be President and would have ceased to bepresident after completing five years of her tenure as President effective from 6/10/1989. The respondents, however, contend that the election of thepetitioner under Clause (a) of Section 3 (1) of the Act is illegal and as suchshe ceased to be the President of the I. N. C. as on 7/01/1992 whenthere was cessation of her membership under clause (m) of Section 3 (1) ofthe Act. ( 9 ) WE now examine as to how the petitioner could have been electedby the West Bengal Nursing Council under Section 3 (1) (a) of the Act. Regulations have been set out above. The notice for holding of the meetingof the West Bengal Nursing Council is dated 29/08/1991 fixing themeeting for 12/09/1991. The notice had been issued by the Registrarof the West Bengal Nursing Council under the signature of Ms. Bani Chatterjee herself. The notice said that agenda would follow. At the same timethere is a note given on this notice referring the regulation 8 stating that notlest than 14 days notice of any ordinary meeting induding its agenda papersshall be given to each member of the Council, directed to such address as heshall from time to time furnish to the Registrar. Admittedly, no agenda wascirculated along with this notice. Then there is a notice dated 9 Jan. , 1991again issued by Ms. Bani Chatterjee as Registrar under her signature findingtherewith agenda for the meeting to be held on 12/09/1991. On ofthe agenda is : "resignation letter of Ms. Bani Chatterjee, Registrar, Westbengal Nursing Council, who had been elected as a member to represent theindian Nursing Council from this State and election of new elected memberfor Indian Nursing Council. " ( 10 ) THE letter of resignation of Ms. On ofthe agenda is : "resignation letter of Ms. Bani Chatterjee, Registrar, Westbengal Nursing Council, who had been elected as a member to represent theindian Nursing Council from this State and election of new elected memberfor Indian Nursing Council. " ( 10 ) THE letter of resignation of Ms. Bani Chatterjee is, however,dated 12/09/1991 and petitioner says she herself in her capacity aspresident of the I. N. C. accepted the resignation there and then in the meeting of the West Bengal Nursing Council. If that was so the matter wouldhave ended at that, but record does not support the contention raised by thepetitioner. Ms. Bani Chatterjee by covering letter dated II December, 1991addressed to the President, I. N. C. , New Delhi, enclosed therewith herresignation letter again addressed to the President of the I. N. C. It is worthwhile noting that the President at that time was the petitioner herself. Thisletter of Ms. Bani Chatterjee was received in the office of the I. N. C. . at Newdelhi on 16/12/1991. There is no explanation if the petitioner hadaccepted the letter of resignation of Ms. Bani Chatterjee on 12/09/1991 in the meeting of the West Bengal Nursing Council why Ms. Banichatterjee thought it lit to send the same letter again to the office of thei. N. C. at New Delhi, though addressed to the President. Photo copy of theoriginal letter written by Ms. Bani Chatterjee dated 12/09/1991 andaddressed to the President is on record. There is no endorsement of thepetitioner having received the letter of resignation of Ms. Bani Chatterjee. Then we find regulations 8 and 9 of the West Bengal Nursing Council havealso been flouted inasmuch as agenda papers were not circulated along withnotice calling the meeting and moreover when there was no letter ofresignation existing how it could be mentioned in the agenda which was Subsequently circulated on 9/09/1991. Though West Bengal Nursingcouncil is not a party before us but we think it could not have said that theelection in that meeting of the petitioner could validly have been made. ( 11 ) THEN it was contended by Ms. Kumaramangalam that the Centralgovernment itself bad accepted the election of the petitioner under Section3 (l) (a) of the Act, and in that connection she drew our attention to the listof members circulated by the respondents. ( 11 ) THEN it was contended by Ms. Kumaramangalam that the Centralgovernment itself bad accepted the election of the petitioner under Section3 (l) (a) of the Act, and in that connection she drew our attention to the listof members circulated by the respondents. It was, however, pointed out onbehalf of the respondents that there was certain misconception in issuing thisnotice- and as a matter of fact when the relevant provisions were examinedit was found that the petitioner had not been elected validly under Section3 (1) (a) of the Act and on that account the impugned letter dated 24/03/1992 was issued. ( 12 ) WE do not find any error in the decision arrived at by the respondents and we find no merit in the writ petition which is dismissed. ( 13 ) DURING the pendency of this writ petition it was submitted beforeus that the elections of the Indian Nursing Council were to be held on 26/11/1992. We did not stay the holding of the elections and appointedmr. A. K. Mukherjee. Director General of Health Services, or his nomineeto perform the duties of the President of the Council till we heard the matteras it was also brought to our notice that the second respondent was to retireon 30/11/1992. We had also said that the election results shall notbe announced. On the subsequent date we were informed that elections hadsince been held but counting of votes had not been done. We directed thatsealed box containing ballot papers be brought into Court. This was broughtto Court today. But in view of our order dismissing the writ petition we donot think it necessary to have the sealed box opened. We will, thereforevacate the interim order made earlier and will direct that the election resultsbe announced and President so elected to take over from Mr. A KMukherjee who has been acting as President of the I. N. C. under ourdirections.