Disqualified AAP MLAs withdraw pleas in HC, to file fresh ones

Twenty AAP MLAs, who have been disqualified as legislators for holding office of profit, today withdrew their petitions in Delhi High Court challenging the Election Commission's (EC) recommendation which has received Presidential assent, saying they would move fresh pleas in the matter.
The legislators, whose appointment as parliamentary secretaries was questioned, told the high court that they would move fresh petitions against their disqualification from the Delhi Assembly, as their earlier pleas became infructuous after President Ram Nath Kovind put a stamp of approval on the EC's recommendation.
Justice Rekha Palli allowed the MLAs to withdraw their applications terming it "dismissed as withdrawn", after it was informed by the EC that it had already sent its opinion to the President on January 19, before the MLAs had moved the court.

Advocate Amit Sharma, appearing for the EC, also said that in view of the government notification adfter the President's assent, the applications have become infructuous.
The legislators had filed the applications in the main pending petition in which they had challenged the EC's stand to examine a complaint against them for holding office of profit.
The pending petition was filed in the high court in August 2017 by the AAP MLAs after the EC had commenced hearing on the petition moved by advocate Prashant Patel seeking their disqualification for holding the office of parliamentary secretaries, which he had said amounted to office of profit.

When the court's attention was drawn to the main petition, the judge said, "in my opinion, the petition (main petition) also becomes infructuous".

However, advocate Manish Vashisht, appearing for one of the AAP MLAs, said the main petition be kept pending as he wanted to examine the notification.
Taking note of the submission, the court fixed March 20 for hearing the main petition and said that in view of the change in circumstances, there was no need for the EC to file its response as directed earlier.
Taking the submissions on record, the court continued with its January 19 interim order giving no protection to the aggrieved legislators.

In its opinion sent to the President, the EC had said that by being parliamentary secretaries, they held office of profit and were liable to be disqualified as MLAs of the Delhi Assembly.
The petition before the EC was filed by Patel against 21 MLAs who were appointed as parliamentary secretaries by the AAP government in Delhi.
The proceedings against Jarnail Singh were dropped after he resigned as the Rajouri Garden MLA to contest the Punjab Assembly polls.
The 20 MLAs include Adarsh Shastri (Dwarka), Alka Lamba (Chandni Chowk), Anil Bajpai (Gandhi Nagar), Avtar Singh (Kalkaji), Kailash Gahlot (Najafgarh) -- who is also a minister -- Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar), Manoj Kumar (Kondli), Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli), Nitin Tyagi (Laxmi Nagar), Praveen Kumar (Jangpura).

The others are Rajesh Gupta (Wazirpur), Rajesh Rishi Janakpuri), Sanjeev Jha (Burari), Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar), Som Dutt (Sadar Bazar), Sharad Kumar (Narela), Shiv Charan Goel (Moti Nagar), Sukhbir Singh (Mundka), Vijendar Garg (Rajinder Nagar) and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar).
In their pleas, the legislators had sought a stay on the proceedings before the EC as well as any communication to the President by the poll panel.
They had contended that no hearing on the merits of the case had taken place before the EC, nor was any opportunity granted to the petitioners before the poll panel. They had also claimed that no evidence was led by complainant Prashant Patel.