Office of profit clause: Only ‘Parliamentary Secretary to Delhi CM’ is exempted, says Lekhi

As the controversy surrounding the appointment of 21 Parliamentary Secretaries by the Delhi government rages on, the AAP accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in “political vendetta” while the BJP was of the opinion that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was “obsessed” with attacking the PM and demanded his resignation. 

BJP said Kejriwal was frustrated as his plan had “crash landed” and slammed him for demeaning the office of President of India by making his decision a political issue. 

Meanwhile, the Election Commission’s disqualification proceedings against the 21 AAP MLAs may take three, four months, with both the petitioner and legislators concerned likely to be given an opportunity to present their argument as part of the quasi-judicial hearing. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked CM Arvind Kejriwal not to drag the President into the office of profit row.

Both the BJP and AAP quoted rules and cited precedents to justify their position.BJP spokesperson and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi said that under the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 2006, only the “Parliamentary Secretary to Delhi Chief Minister” is exempted from the office of profit clause. 

“The Kejriwal government passed an illegal Bill in the Delhi Assembly abusing its brute majority there. An earlier provision only allowed one Parliamentary Secretary position to the Chief Minister. The position was kept out of the purview of the office of profit rules after a 2006 Amendment Bill, when the Congress was in office,” Lekhi said.