EC to soon decide fate of parliamentary secretaries
NEW DELHI: The fate of the 21 AAP MLAs from Delhi, who face the prospects of disqualification on grounds of having held `office of profit' as parliamentary secretaries, may be decided soon with Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi saying that the arguments in the case may wind up either on March 16, when the next hearing is due, or the subsequent hearing.
“The arguments of the defendants are going on. They should be concluded in one hearing or two,“ Zaidi said in an exclusive interview to TOI.
The ruling is being awaited by rival political camps as an adverse order will set the stage of a mini-assembly election in Delhi. However, it will not affect AAP government, given the brute majority it enjoys in the Delhi assembly . In case the arguments conclude during the March 16 hearing, it may not be long before EC gives its verdict. Even if another hearing is needed, with the EC set to have enough time on hand after conclusion of polls in five states, it may be scheduled within this month itself.
If the EC finds merit in the `office of profit' argument put forward in the disqualification petition filed by lawyer Prashant Patel with the President in July 2015, it will mark a rejection of the argument put forward by AAP that the quashing of the 21 AAP MLA's appointment as parliamentary secretaries by the Delhi High Court in September 2016 had rendered the disqualification petition meaningless.
On September 8, 2016, the Delhi High Court had set aside the appointment of 21 party MLAs as parliamentary secretaries. The court had said the order to appoint them as parliamentary secretaries was given without the concurrence of the Lieutenant Governor.
“The arguments of the defendants are going on. They should be concluded in one hearing or two,“ Zaidi said in an exclusive interview to TOI.
The ruling is being awaited by rival political camps as an adverse order will set the stage of a mini-assembly election in Delhi. However, it will not affect AAP government, given the brute majority it enjoys in the Delhi assembly . In case the arguments conclude during the March 16 hearing, it may not be long before EC gives its verdict. Even if another hearing is needed, with the EC set to have enough time on hand after conclusion of polls in five states, it may be scheduled within this month itself.
If the EC finds merit in the `office of profit' argument put forward in the disqualification petition filed by lawyer Prashant Patel with the President in July 2015, it will mark a rejection of the argument put forward by AAP that the quashing of the 21 AAP MLA's appointment as parliamentary secretaries by the Delhi High Court in September 2016 had rendered the disqualification petition meaningless.
On September 8, 2016, the Delhi High Court had set aside the appointment of 21 party MLAs as parliamentary secretaries. The court had said the order to appoint them as parliamentary secretaries was given without the concurrence of the Lieutenant Governor.
