Twenty Delhi MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were disqualified
on Sunday Jan 21,2018 with the President of India approving an Election Commission Of India(ECI)
recommendation against the lawmakers in the office-of-profit case.
"...Having considered the matter in the light of the opinion expressed
by the Election Commission, I, Ram Nath Kovind, president of India, in
exercise of the powers...do here hold that the aforesaid 20 members of
the Delhi legislative assembly stand disqualified from being members of
the said assembly," read the notification issued by law ministry,
quoting the President.
The disqualification will not endanger the Arvind Kejriwal government but its numbers will come down significantly in the 70-seat Delhi Assembly. They would still enjoy a comfortable majority, with 46 out of 50 seats in the pruned House.
The President’s assent also paves the way for by-election in the 20 seats, giving a chance to the BJP and the Congress to increase their tally. While the BJP has four seats in the Delhi Assembly, the Congress has zero.
The AAP was quick to denounce the President's decision, with its leader Ashutosh describing it as unconstitutional and dangerous for the democracy.
What is an 'office of profit'?
Note
The entire issue came into existence when on March 13, 2015, the Arvind Kejriwal government passed an order appointing 21 MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries. This was challenged by Advocate Prashant Patel who petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee on June 19, 2015, that these MLAs were now holding ‘office of profit’ and should be disqualified.
The Delhi Legislative Assembly, then passed the Delhi Member of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) ( Amendment Bill ), 2015 excluding Parliamentary Secretaries from “ office of profit’ with retrospective effect.
The issue in front of the Election Commission was whether the office of Parliamentary Secretary in the GNCTD, 1991 constitutes an ‘office of profit’. Article 191 of the Constitution has not defined what is an ‘office of profit’, which has paved the way to the Courts to lay down the law.
The AAP has approached the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on EC's recommendation. The court has listed the case for a hearing on Monday Jan 22,2018
List of 20 AAP MLAs who have been disqualified
S.No. | MLA | Constituency | Ministry/Department |
1 | Adarsh Shastri | Dwarka | I&T |
2 | Alka Lamba | Chandni Chowk | Tourism |
3 | Anil Vajpayee | Gandhi Nagar | Health |
4 | Avtar Singh | Kalkaji | Gurdwara elections |
5 | Kailash Gehilot | Najafgarg | Law |
6 | Madan Lal | Kasurba Nagar | Vigilance |
7 | Manoj Kumar | Kondli | Food and Civil Supplies |
8 | Naresh Yadav | Mehrauli | Labour |
9 | Nitin Tyagi | Laxmi Nagar | Women and Child and Social Welfare |
10 | Praveen Kumar | Jangpura | Education |
11 | Rajesh Gupta | Wazirpur | Health |
12 | Rajesh Rishi | Janakpuri | Health |
13 | Sanjeev Jha | Burari | Transport |
14 | Sarita Singh | Rohtas Nagar | Employment |
15 | Som Dutt | Sadar Bazar | Industries |
16 | Sharad Kumar | Narela | Revenue Ministry |
17 | Shiv Charan Goel | Moti Nagar | finance |
18 | Sukhbir Singh | Mundka | Languages & Welfare of SC/ST/OBC |
19 | Vijendar Garg | Rajinder Nagar | PWD |
20 | Jarnail Singh | Tilak Nagar | Development |
The disqualification will not endanger the Arvind Kejriwal government but its numbers will come down significantly in the 70-seat Delhi Assembly. They would still enjoy a comfortable majority, with 46 out of 50 seats in the pruned House.
The President’s assent also paves the way for by-election in the 20 seats, giving a chance to the BJP and the Congress to increase their tally. While the BJP has four seats in the Delhi Assembly, the Congress has zero.
The AAP was quick to denounce the President's decision, with its leader Ashutosh describing it as unconstitutional and dangerous for the democracy.
What is an 'office of profit'?
If an MLA or an MP holds a government office and receives benefits
from it, then that office is termed as an "office of profit
A person will be disqualified if he holds an office of profit under the central or state government, other than an office declared not to disqualify its holder by a law passed by Parliament or state legislature.
Note
The entire issue came into existence when on March 13, 2015, the Arvind Kejriwal government passed an order appointing 21 MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries. This was challenged by Advocate Prashant Patel who petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee on June 19, 2015, that these MLAs were now holding ‘office of profit’ and should be disqualified.
The Delhi Legislative Assembly, then passed the Delhi Member of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) ( Amendment Bill ), 2015 excluding Parliamentary Secretaries from “ office of profit’ with retrospective effect.
The issue in front of the Election Commission was whether the office of Parliamentary Secretary in the GNCTD, 1991 constitutes an ‘office of profit’. Article 191 of the Constitution has not defined what is an ‘office of profit’, which has paved the way to the Courts to lay down the law.
The AAP has approached the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on EC's recommendation. The court has listed the case for a hearing on Monday Jan 22,2018
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