Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, 19 January, responded to the controversy that erupted over the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs, asserting that "in the end, the truth always wins.”
In the tweet, Kejriwal wrote:
There are many obstacles when we go on the path of honesty. That is natural. But all the forces of the universe do help you. God supports you. Because you don’t work for yourself, but for the country and the society. In the end, the truth always wins.Arvind Kejriwal
Kejriwal’s response comes on a day when several reports surfaced saying that the Election Commission sent a recommendation to the President to disqualify 20 party MLAs who allegedly held ‘offices of profit.’
The Delhi High Court also refused to grant interim relief to the 20 MLAs in the ‘office of profit’ case on Friday. The MLAs’ petition against their disqualification was heard by a bench headed by acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal.
In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind, the Election Commission said that the MLAs, being parliamentary secretaries, held offices of profit and were liable to be disqualified as members of the Delhi Assembly, highly-placed sources told PTI.
What May Happen
According to PTI, the President is bound to go by the recommendation of the Commission. In cases where petitions are made seeking disqualification of lawmakers, the President sends a reference to the EC, which decides on the case by sending back its opinion. In the present case, the petition was made to disqualify 21 MLAs, but one had resigned a few months back.
The disqualification of the MLAs will pave way for by-elections in the Delhi Assembly.
However, there had been no official word from the Election Commission.
When contacted earlier, Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti said since the matter is sub judice, he would not offer any comment on the issue, PTI reported.
AAP Refutes Allegations as BJP & Congress Hit Out
Soon after the controversy broke out, AAP leader and spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj sought to refute the allegations levelled against the party and its MLAs, saying:
There is no credible information. All reports are based on sources. I want to ask if people from constituencies of these 21 MLAs have seen them utilising government facilities like car or house. No hearing has been held before EC until now.Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP leader
Bhardwaj further alleged that the EC has not given the AAP MLAs an opportunity to put forth their side of the arguments. Hitting out at the Chief Election Commissioner, he said that “he is paying a debt to PM Modi by compromising a constitutional body like the Election Commission”.
Rajesh Gupta, one of the AAP MLAs who has been purportedly been disqualified, asserted earlier:
We demanded a copy of the letter, but we have got nothing from the Election Commission. There has been no hearing. The matter is sub judice in the High Court.Rajesh Gupta, AAP MLA
Meanwhile, both the Congress and the BJP slammed AAP after the development.
Arvind Kejriwal doesn’t have the moral right to stay on in his post. He must resign. Congress will carry out a ‘jan aandolan’ regarding the same.Ajay Maken, Congress leader
The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the decision of the EC's purported recommendation.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra remarked:
From “India against Corruption” to “I am Corruption”, Aam Aadmi Party has covered the journey in a short time. Do they still have morality to stay in government in Delhi?Sambit Patra
What Was the ‘Office of Profit’ Controversy?
The ‘office of profit’ controversy began soon after Arvind Kejriwal’s party emerged victorious in the 2015 Assembly polls in Delhi. Lawyer Prashant Patel had filed a petition to disqualify MLAs on the grounds that they were holding an ‘office of profit’ as parliamentary secretaries.
The MLAs pleaded for the case against them to be dropped by the EC in June 2017, but their pleas were rejected.
In August 2017, the Delhi High Court refused the MLAs’ plea to stay the election body’s order upholding maintainability of the petition despite quashing their appointment as parliamentary secretaries in 2016.
The HC had argued that there was no scope for a stay since the EC’s proceedings on hearing the central issue of whether the MLAs had indeed held ‘office of profit’ were yet to begin.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
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