JD(U) faction dispute: Delhi HC dismisses plea by rival group, recognises Nitish Kumar’s faction as legitimate

Yadav had sought that the processes for organisational elections be annulled for the years 2016, 2019, and 2022, alleging them to have been conducted fraudulently, and to declare his expulsion as null and void. Yadav’s plea had also sought that the Court invalidate all directions and decisions of the JD(U) from 2016 onwards.

Two contending factions within the party – one led by Chotubhai Amarsang Vasava and the other by Nitish Kumar – had each staked a claim to be the legitimate faction of the JD(U). In its orders dated November 17, 2017, and November 25, 2017, the Election Commission recognised Kumar as the legitimate office bearer of the party. The petitioner’s representations were rejected in both orders, primarily on the ground that the petitioner must seek a declaration from a competent court to challenge the validity of the organisational elections.

Justice Kaurav, while dismissing the reliefs being sought in the plea as being beyond the ambit and scope of the Court, observed that Kumar’s faction “demonstrated overwhelming majority support, both within the legislative wing and the National Council of the party, which is the apex organisational body” and the EC’s interim order recognised the group led by Kumar “as the legitimate JDU faction” and thus his faction was “granted the entitlement to use the reserved symbol, the Arrow, as the officially recognized State party in Bihar.”

While Yadav contended that the party’s internal forum had declared the elections conducted by the JD(U) to be invalid, citing a September 2017 letter of the party designating Vasava instead as the acting party president, the Court observed that “this contention lacks merit” when considered against the EC’s final order recognising Kumar’s faction to be legitimate, and thus the letter of the rival faction of September 2017 “cannot be given credence”.