Office-of-profit: EC rejects AAP plea for summoning witnesses

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday issued an order dismissing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs' petition seeking summoning and cross-examining witnesses, including that of officials in the Delhi government, in the office-of-profit case.

Dismissing the petition by the AAP MLAs filed on September 11, the ECI in its order said, "No cogent reason was given for calling witnesses. Documents mentioned in the application are all self-explanatory, when read in conjunction with other related documents available on record and no later act or event has altered the meaning of words used in these documents."

The poll panel also noted that the omission "to supply the names of the witnesses, their address, the specific document or fact in relation to which that particular witness is required to be called", as in the 39-page application 'strikes' formed "the very core of it". Under circumstances, it was left "with no choice but to reject the application".

The EC also said the AAP MLAs did not file a consolidated application seeking examination of witnesses in the required format. They filed the application, which is "not only in flagrant violation of formal prescribed by EC" but also omissions have been made without necessary information.

"Therefore there is again no need to call any witness to prove that no benefit was taken by the applicants/respondents (20 MLAs) by virtue of occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries," the ECI said in its order. The Election Commission is hearing afresh the case related to disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding office-of-profit by virtue of their appointment as parliamentary secretaries.