MillenniumPost
Delhi

EC rejects AAP MLAs’ plea on ‘second petition’

The Election Commission on Friday refused to entertain fresh allegations in a petition seeking disqualification of 21 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit even as it rejected the plea of the lawmakers not to take cognisance of the so-called second application filed in the case.

It also fixed September 23 as the next date of hearing. On August 29, it had reserved its order on the plea of AAP MLAs to reject the so-called second petition. 

The Commission, in its order said: “The contents of paras... make some extraneous/additional allegations and insinuations. Accordingly, these paragraphs... are directed to be struck off from the reply dated December 28, 20l5 (the so-called second petition) of the petitioner.” 

In other words, the Commission refused to expand the scope of the original petition by not agreeing to include “additional allegations” filed through the second petition. 

The first petition was filed by advocate Prashant Patel before the President on June 19, 2015, seeking disqualification of the 21 AAP lawmakers for allegedly holding office of profit. He had filed additional documents as sought by the EC. 

But AAP had claimed that additional documents in effect were a second petition which should not be entertained. But at the same time, the Commission also rejected the plea of the MLAs that the so-called second petition by Patel was not maintainable as it was not sent to the President like the first petition but filed before the poll body. 

“None of the learned counsel for the respondents have raised any specific objection that even paras 1 and 2 of the petitioner’s reply dated December 28, 2015 can also not be looked into by the 
Commission. These two paras are mere reiteration of the question raised by the petitioner in his original petition,” the Commission said in its 18-page order.  
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