President Kovind gives nod to disqualify 20 AAP MLAS
‘CEC, Election Commissioners made hasty decisions to please political bosses’
NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday accepted the recommendation of the Election Commission to disqualify 20 lawmakers of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party, for violating the provisions of the Office of Profit. Under the provisions, lawmakers cannot hold any post in the government that entitles them to perks or powers unless a law has been passed to exempt the posts. AAP has described the Commission’s recommendation as “unconstitutional and undemocratic”. The legislators have also appealed in high court, which will hear the matter on Monday.
A notification from President Ram Nath Kovind’s office said, “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”.
The disqualification of the 20 lawmakers will not endanger AAP’S government. AAP has 66 seats in the 70-member assembly. Its numbers will now be down to 46 seats, which is well past the half-way mark of 35.
The President’s approval of the Election Commission’s recommendation paves the way for byelections in the 20 assembly seats, giving the opposition BJP and Congress a chance to increase their tally. The BJP has four seats in the house, the Congress none.
AAP legislators, who moved the Delhi High Court on Friday, did not get any interim relief. The court posted the matter for hearing on Monday. The court had earlier quashed the AAP government’s order appointing 21 legislators as parliamentary secretaries as it lacked the approval of the Lieutenant Governor, the administrative head of Delhi.
“We had hoped to go to the President asking him to give us a chance to present ourselves. Now we received this news. AAP will knock the doors of HC and even SC if needed,” said Delhi law minister Gopal Rai.
While chief minister Arvind Kejriwal did not directly respond to the goings-on, the party’s official Twitter handle did post a statement from him: “They really tormented us, got false cases registered against our legislators, launched a CBI raid against me, but they never got anything. In the end, they finally got 20 of our MLAS disqualified.”
NEW DELHI: Hours after President Ram Nath Kovind approved the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAS recommended by the Election Commission, Delhi Chief Minister and the party supremo Arvind Kejriwal asserted that in the end truth will prevail and the party will continue its battle.
“Many obstacles come into your way when you walk on the path of truth and honesty. The path of the truth is full of obstacles but visible and invisible powers of the universe come out to help you when you walk on it. And in the end, the truth prevails,” he said.
The CM also said in a tweet that, “I have always said that it was God's grace. He also knew that after three years these people would declare 20 of our MLAS disqualified. That's why he gave us 67 seats out of 70 in the Delhi Assembly polls.” “They (Bjp-led Centre) have tremendously victimised us by imposing fake cases on our MLAS. They conducted CBI raids on me and didn't get anything and today they declared 20 of our MLAS disqualified,” he added.
Meanwhile, the AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners are expected to behave in an independent and impartial manner and not as political stooges of their masters who appoint them.
“Their unjustified and hasty opinions to please their political bosses will not stand legal scrutiny,” he said. He added that it is beyond any reason- able understanding and justification as to how the immediate successors of Dr Zaidi decided to overturn this written order and chose not to provide any hearing to the 20 MLAS after March 2017.
“The EC is a Constitutional institution of continuity and not a retired members club of a group of political appointees. Further, the EC has failed to answer the basic test laid down in numerous judgments by the Supreme Court on the issue of office of profit,” said Bharadwaj. He wondered whether the Commission in its opinion has been able to spell out what pecuniary gain these 20 MLAS got by becoming parliamentary secretaries.
The opposition parties welcomed President's decision. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari welcomed the decision of disqualifying the 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAS accused of accepting Office of Profit by the President of India and has said that with his speedy decision the President has made a major contribution towards protecting democratic values.