Youth Congress Election and Membership List Unconstitutional: Moovattupuzha Munsiff Court

Moovattupuzha: The Moovattupuzha Munsiff Court has declared the recent Youth Congress state office-bearer election and the associated membership distribution as unconstitutional. The court ruled that both the creation of the membership list and the conduct of the election violated the constitution of the Youth Congress.

The judgment also directed that the court costs be borne by the All India Youth Congress Committee and the State Committee, who were the first and second respondents in the case. As a result, the 2023 Youth Congress state office-bearer election, in which Rahul Mankoottil was elected as state president, has been annulled.

The petitioners had argued that both the membership distribution and the election were against the written constitution of the organisation and sought annulment of the election. The petition was filed by Youth Congress members Nahas K Mohammed of Paipuzha, Moovattupuzha, and P S Sanil of Manjalloor.

In their defense, the respondents, including former president Shafi Parambil, claimed that the petitioners submitted an outdated constitution and that the organisation had a valid constitution. However, they were unable to present the constitution before the court. Notably, the advocate representing the sixth respondent, Rahul Mankoottil, was absent during the final hearing.

Advocates Abid Ali, Gijo Joseph, and Eldose Varghese appeared on behalf of the petitioners. Abid Ali had been suspended from the post of state general secretary for filing a complaint with the national leadership regarding fake ID cards issued during the Youth Congress election.