Office-of-profit: EC rejects AAP MLAs' plea to cross-examine petitioner

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Tuesday rejected a plea by Aam Aadmi Party MLAs to cross-examine a petitioner, who sought their disqualification, to prove that they were not holding any "office of profit".

In its 70-page order, the poll panel said, "There is no occasion and need for the cross-examination of the petitioner as he is not a witness in the present proceedings and the respondents have failed to make out a case for calling any witness as pleaded in their applications.

"Therefore, this commission dismisses the applications under consideration."

The Commission also said it will hear the final arguments in the AAP office-of-profit case on July 23.

The EC is hearing afresh the case related to disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding the office of profit by virtue of their appointment as parliamentary secretaries.

The Delhi AAP lawmakers had moved the plea on 16 May for cross-examination of petitioner Prashant Patel, and officials of the Assembly and city government to prove that they were not holding any office of profit by being appointed as parliamentary secretaries.

In March this year, the AAP had received a morale-boosting reprieve from the Delhi high court, which reinstated 20 MLAs of the party after they had been disqualified through a presidential order on the recommendation of the EC.

Disqualification of the members of the legislative assembly (MLAs), on grounds that they held an office of profit as parliamentary secretaries, was in violation of the "principle of natural justice," a high court bench comprising justice Sanjiv Khanna and justice Chander Shekhar had ruled.

The judges sent back the case to the ECI for a fresh hearing on all the "important" and "seminal issues" and to determine the meaning of the expression "office-of-profit held under the government".

"Order of remand is passed to the ECI to hear arguments and thereafter decide the all-important and seminal issue; what is meant by the expression 'office-of-profit held under the Government' and re-examine the factual matrix to decide whether the petitioners had incurred disqualification on appointment as Parliamentary Secretaries, without being influenced by the earlier order or observations on the said aspect in this order," the court said in a 79-page order.

The ruling was delivered on a bunch of appeals by the MLAs, who had challenged the EC recommendation and the President's approval of their disqualification from the Delhi Assembly.