AAP MLAs withdraw plea from Delhi HC seeking stay on EC’s recommendation to disqualify them

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal Sunday accused the BJP of creating hurdles in the government’s path. “There are false cases against 20 persons, they raided me too… but only found four mufflers. They tried everything and finally, today they have disqualified 20 MLAs. But when we won 67 seats, I wondered why? Now I know that the universe knew that these MLAs would get disqualified,” he had tweeted.

Delhi High Court – AAP MLAs’ plea highlights:

4.45 pm: AAP MLAs’ counsel tells Delhi HC that their plea has become infructuous as President has accepted EC recommendation and notification disqualifying them has been issued.

4.40 pm: AAP MLAs withdraw plea from Delhi HC seeking stay on EC’s recommendation for their disqualification.

2.28 pm: A petition has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana HC seeking disqualification of four BJP MLAs, appointed as Chief Parliamentary Secretaries by the Haryana government. The HC had quashed these appointments last year. Read more here. 

Reacting to the PIL, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, “There is a difference in situation between Delhi and Haryana. We already have a law in place, but court said this is not correct so we have removed them,” reported ANI.

1.32 pm: Crack within AAP’s ranks? The Indian Express reported last week that there are concerns within the party that dissidents could “restart the process of attempting to poach legislators who won on AAP tickets,” according to a senior party leader. Meanwhile, party leaders also admitted that preparing for “unnecessary and politically motivated bypolls” could be an added burden. Read more here.

12.09 pm: In case you’re just joining us, the Delhi HC is hearing a petition filed by the AAP seeking a stay on the Election Commission’s recommendation to disqualify 20 of its MLAs from the Delhi Assembly for holding “Offices of Profit.” Here’s a quick recap of what happened yesterday and how the AAP has reacted.

11.43 am: Vote!

11.00 am: Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia has written a letter to the public, questioning the disqualification of elected MLAs in this “unconstitutional” and “illegal” manner. “Is it justified to push Delhi into polls? Isn’t this dirty politics?” he asks.

?????? ?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?? ????

???? ???? ??? ???????? ?? ?? ??? ???-????????? ?? ???-?????? ????? ?? ???????? ???? ??? ???

???? ?????? ?? ?? ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? ???

???? ?? ???? ??????? ???? ??? pic.twitter.com/9QzU52bTay

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) January 22, 2018

10.53 am: AAP leader Ashutosh took to Twitter this morning, targeting both the EC and the President in a series of tweets. He said, “The President, Sri Ram Nath Kovind should himself contemplate if he has enhanced his stature in history as the President of the Republic of India by signing to disqualify AAP MLAs ?”

“Hope Mr President, Sri Ram Nath Kovind knows that K R Narayanan acted as the guardian of the constitution, had conurage of conviction to return the recommendations of the cabinet not once but twice. He was not a rubber stamp President, was a working president, a great president,” he added.

On the EC, he tweeted, “Time has come to think if EX-Bureaucrats sud be fit to be appointed as Election Commissioners ? The (mis)conduct of Mr Jyoti deserves serious debate why men with independent integrity from the civil society sud not be appointed as ECs !”

10.20 am: In light of the AAP MLAs being disqualified for holding “Office of Profit”, The Indian Express compiles a comprehensive list of parliamentary secretaries in states under the Congress and BJP. Read: Parliamentary secretaries elsewhere: there, not there

10.00 am: The AAP is prepping for the possibility of bypolls to 20 seats. CM Kejriwal, campaigning in Najafgarh on Sunday, listed promises the party would fulfill in the next two years. Najafgarh seat — held by Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, one of the disqualified MLAs. Targeting the BJP government, he said the disqualification was part of “larger efforts” to derail the government. Read: Politics in matters of welfare is treason, says Kejriwal

9.40 am: The “Office of Profit” issue was first lodged by an advocate from Uttar Pradesh, Prashant Patel, who approached the EC and the President with a 100-page report on the contentious appointments. Patel, who calls himself a “layperson interested in politics,” said he is not part of any political party, but filed a plea in 2015 after realising something “was amiss.”

9.30 am: Reactions from political parties: BJP said the decision has “protected” the democratic values of the country, while Congress’ Ajay Maken called for Kejriwal’s resignation saying he has “lost the moral right to rule.”

9.20 am: Two BJP leaders, Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha, have spoken out against the decision to disqualify the AAP MLAs. Taking to Twitter, Yashwant Sinha called the President’s order a “complete miscarriage of natural justice; Tughluqshahi of the worst order.” Shatrughan Sinha, on the other hand, said the “politics of vendetta or politics of vested interests just don’t last long.”

9.15 am: These are the 20 MLAs disqualified from the Delhi Assembly: Adarsh Shastri (Dwarka constituency), Alka Lamba (Chandni Chowk), Sanjeev Jha (Burari), Kailash Gehlot (Najafgarh), Vijendra Garg (Rajinder Nagar), Praveen Kumar (Jangpura), Sharad Kumar Chauhan (Narela), Madan Lal Khufiya (Kasturba Nagar), Shiv Charan Goyal (Moti Nagar), Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar), Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli), Rajesh Gupta (Wazirpur), Rajesh Rishi (Janakpuri), Anil Kumar Bajpai (Gandhi Nagar), Som Dutt (Sadar Bazar), Avtar Singh (Kalkaji), Sukhvir Singh Dala (Mundka), Manoj Kumar (Kondli), Nitin Tyagi (Laxmi Nagar) and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar). In the original petitions, there were 21 MLAs named, but one has resigned.

9.11 am: What is “Office for Profit”? A legislator can be disqualified from Parliament or state Assembly for holding: a) An office; b) An office of profit; c) An office under the union or state government; d) An office exempt by law from purview of disqualificatory provisions.

As the word ‘office’ is not defined in the Constitution or the Representation of the People Act of 1951, we have to refer to previous judicial pronouncements. In Kanta Kathuria vs Manak Chand Surana, the judgment read: An “office has an existence independent from the persons who filled it, which went on and was filled in succession by successive holders”.

In U.C.Raman vs P.T.A.Rahim and Ors, the SC stated: “The word ‘profit’ has always been treated equivalent to or a substitute for the term ‘pecuniary gain’”.

Explained | Office of profit: What & the why

8.29 am: “The action of EC, an institution admired for its impartial conduct, appears far too disproportionate,” reads an editorial in The Indian Express today. “The AAP, and some former election commissioners, have challenged the manner in which the disqualification has taken place and the alleged disregard of due process in the action. The issues they have flagged call for wider discussion.” Read the entire editorial here.

8.20 am: On Friday, following the EC’s recommendation, six AAP MLAs moved the Delhi HC seeking an interim stay on the order. Dismissing the plea, the HC had questioned the conduct of the MLAs, saying it was not “looking at the merit of the case” as “the EC kept giving you reminders but you did not bother to respond.”

8.10 am: What does the disqualification of the MLAs mean?

Here’s the math: The AAP currently has 66 seats in the 70-member House. With 20 of its MLAs being disqualified, its strength is reduced to 44. However, the party is still in majority. So now what? Delhi will have to witness a mini state election sometime in the next six months to elect new representatives to the Assembly if they do not get a favourable order from the High Court.

8.00 am: The Delhi High Court has listed for hearing today AAP’s plea against disqualification of its 20 MLAs, after the Election Commission found them guilty of holding “Offices of Profit.” The President gave his assent to the recommendation of the poll body on Sunday and ordered their disqualification. Follow our live blog for the latest updates.