EC seeks details from Delhi government on facilities to 21 AAP MLAs

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As the Election Commission prepares to hear the 21 AAP MLAs appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries on a plea for disqualifying them for holding office of profit, it has sought details from the Delhi government on the facilities being provided to them and their nature of work.

In a letter to the Delhi Chief Secretary, the Commission has sought details of the facilities being provided to them as Parliamentary Secretaries.

It has also asked for information on the nature of the work as Parliamentary Secretary.

The response of the Delhi government will help the Commission formulate an opinion before the process of giving them personal hearing from July 14.

The 21 members of the Assembly had sought a personal hearing after a lawyer petitioned the Commission for their disqualification on the ground that MLAs are not allowed to hold an office of profit.

The MLAs have maintained that the post of Parliamentary Secretary in Delhi does not come with any remuneration or trappings of power.

In March last, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had appointed the 21 MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries to assist ministers of the Delhi government.

The AAP government then sought to get this legal sanction with retrospective effect by amending the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997.

The bill, passed by the Assembly in June last year, was forwarded to the Union government, but President Pranab Mukherjee declined to sign it. The Election Commission has taken note of the President's stand.