Orissa HC asks guv to dispose of plea to disqualify MLAs for holding office of profit

The petitioner said 22 BJD MLAs who were appointed as chairpersons of several district planning committees and special development councils have been given minister of state status, giving them pecuniary advantage

The Orissa high court has directed the governor of Odisha to dispose of a plea seeking the disqualification of nearly two dozen Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs for holding office of profit.

Representational image. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A two-judge bench comprising chief justice S Muralidhar and justice SK Panigrahi, while adjudicating a plea by petitioner Samarendra Beura, asked the governor to dispose the petition by November 8.

As per Article 191(1)(a) of the Constitution, a person would be disqualified as a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council if he/she holds any office of profit under the government of India or the government of any state. To get around this difficulty, the state government in 2016 had enacted the Odisha Offices of Profit (Removal of Disqualifications) Amendment Act to declare that MLAs who are appointed as chairpersons of district planning committees, special development council and Western Odisha Development Council would not be disqualified from being the members of the legislative assembly.

However, Beura, in his petition before the high court said the 22 BJD MLAs who were appointed as chairpersons of several district planning committees and special development councils have been given minister of state status, giving them pecuniary advantage. Those MLAs, by virtue of being ministers of state, drew a sumptuary allowance, daily allowance and travelling allowance, while enjoying government accommodation and vehicles.

The petitioner told the high court that in the case of Brundaban Nayak vs Election Commission of India in 1965, the Supreme Court had ruled that complaints under Article 192 of the Constitution seeking disqualification of MLAs must be disposed of as expeditiously as possible. As per the process, the governor has to obtain the opinion of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and dispose of the applications within a prescribed period.

A public relations official in the governor’s secretariat said the order copy from the high court is yet to reach the governor. “He will go through the order once it reaches him and take necessary steps,” the official said.

BJD MLA from Koraput, Raghuram Padal, who heads the special development council in the tribal-dominated district, said he does not consider the state government giving him minister of state status as office of profit. “We are doing a lot of work for people and these allowance can’t be called profit,” he said.

Similarly, Rajendra Dholakia, BJD MLA from Nuapara and chairman of Nuapara District Planning Board Committee, said he too does not consider his status office of profit. “The state government must have given me the responsibility after a lot of deliberations and vetting by law department. I, therefore, don’t think I hold an office of profit,” he said.

A BJD spokesperson, meanwhile, refused to comment on the high court order, saying it was for the governor to comply with.