The Delhi High Court on Tuesday referred to a larger Bench a plea by some Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs challenging an Election Commission decision disallowing them to cross-examine the person who accused them of holding ‘office of profit’ for their appointment as Parliamentary Secretaries.
The MLAs, including Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, have also sought that they be allowed to summon some Delhi government officials as witnesses.
Justice V.K. Rao said the pleas were seeking clarification of the High Court’s March 23 decision setting aside the poll panel’s disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for holding office-of-profit and therefore, it has to be heard by the same division Bench which had passed that order.
The High Court in its March 23 judgment had termed the poll panel’s recommendation as “vitiated” and “bad in law” and had directed it to hear the issue afresh.
The MLAs have claimed that this means that they should be allowed to cross-examine the complainant, advocate Prashant Patel, and also summon witnesses.
The Election Commission, however, contended that the court’s order clearly meant that only oral arguments were to be heard.
Same Bench
The single-Judge Bench, thereafter, referred the matter for listing on August 2 before the same Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar, which had delivered the March 23 verdict.