Petition to President over Raghav Chadha's disqualification as MP

AMBALA: Appointment of Raghav Chadha, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Punjab state Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha as chairman of advisory committee (AC) by Punjab chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann on Monday, has come under a sort of legal scanner besides inviting political criticism by opposition parties in the state.
Ambala based advocate of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Hemant Kumar on Tuesday wrote a letter-petition under Article 103 (1) of Constitution of India to the President of India.
Hemant sought for referring his petition further to Election Commission of India (ECI) under Article 103 (2) so that the latter may duly examine the matter and report its opinion pertaining to possible disqualification under Article 102 (1) (a) of the Constitution, of Raghav Chadha from the Punjab state on account of his appointment as chairman of AC by the Government of Punjab.

Hemant said, "Since the appointment of Raghav as chairman of AC amounts to holding of an office of profit, which till date has not been declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder."
He said as per Article 102 (1) (a) of Constitution, the MP of either house of Parliament can be disqualified as such if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India (GOI) or the state government, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder.
He further told that in pursuance of above Article, a law namely Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 was enacted by Parliament which has been amended several times in last six decades and which specifies explicit names and designations of certain offices both under the GOI as well as government of different states the holding of whom by MPs would not disqualify them as MPs.
Hemant further elaborated that Section 3(h) of aforementioned 1959 Act excludes the office of chairman or member of a committee (whether consisting of one or more members), set up temporarily for the purpose of advising the government or any other authority in respect of any matter of public importance or for the purpose of making an inquiry into, or collecting statistics in respect of, any such matter, if the holder of such office is not entitled to any remuneration other than compensatory allowance.
Pertinent that the AC in Punjab has been constituted vide a Punjab government notification dated July 6, 2022 as an temporary (adhoc) committee to advise on matters of public importance pertaining to public administration.
Hemant said, "Chairperson and members of ibid Committee are however not entitled to any compensation, remuneration or perks of any kind or nomenclature in respect of such appointment. They shall not even be entitled to payments that are compensatory in nature, including any reimbursements."
He said the question arises if the office of chairman of AC of Punjab government would fall within the purview of Section 3(h) of the aforementioned 1959 Act so as to exclude/exempt the holder from disqualification which otherwise operates under Article 102(1)(a) of Constitution.