Office of Profit: President Accepts Disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs
- by Johnnie Parks
- in Money
- — Jan 21, 2018
President Ram Nath Kovind today accepted the Election Commission's recommendation to disqualify 20 MLAs of Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party for holding offices of profit. Sisodia further said that the party will move the court on the matter as the EC didn't give them an opportunity to explain their stand in the case. "We are seeking appointment to meet the president and the MLAs will convey him that it is a biased recommendation and against natural justice", he claimed. "AAP will knock the doors of HC and even SC if the need be", said Gopal Rai to ANI.
It will still have comfortable majority even though the number of MLAs in the 70-seat assembly will reduce from 66 to 46.
More news: Donald Trump insists he exercises after physician's concernsThe MLAs who face axe are Alka Lamba, Adarsh Shastri, Sanjeev Jha, Rajesh Gupta, Kailash Gehlot, Vijendra Garg, Praveen Kumar, Sharad Kumar, Madan Lal Khufiya, Shiv Charan Goyal, Sarita Singh, Naresh Yadav, Rajesh Rishi, Anil Kumar, Som Dutt, Avtar Singh, Sukhvir Singh Dala, Manoj Kumar, Nitin Tyagi and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar). He said, "AAP has been helped by BJP & EC by delaying the decision for over 3 weeks". "Election Commission's recommendation has made disqualification of AAP MLAs a certainty".
On Friday, the Election Commission had recommended to the President the disqualification of 20 of its MLAs for holding office of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the Assembly. "These are constitutional bodies whose mandate is to obey law", said BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi.
More news: Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere close to signing new Arsenal deals?In its opinion which was sent to President of India Ram Nath Kovind, the poll panel suggested that the MLAs were "unconstitutionally" appointed as parliamentary secretaries to various Delhi ministers, therefore they are liable for disqualification.
June 19, 2015: In a petition to then President Pranab Mukherjee, Delhi lawyer Prashant Patel challenges the appointment of MLAs as "parliamentary secretaries" alleging that they were holding "Office of Profit".
More news: Dr. Ronny Jackson's glowing bill of health for TrumpThis disqualification will not meddle with AAP's position in the assembly, but is definitely a serious setback for the party.
