President Kovind rejects plea to disqualify 11 AAP MLAs

Delhi chief minister and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the move, saying “truth always prevails”.

President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected a plea to disqualify 11 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs on the grounds of holding offices of profit.

President Ram Nath Kovind (PTI)

Delhi chief minister and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the move, saying “truth always prevails”.

The order issued on October 28 was in response to a 2017 plea filed by BJP leader Vivek Garg who demanded disqualification of the MLAs for holding the posts of co-chairpersons of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) while being members of the legislative assembly.

The 11 eleven MLAs against whom the petition was filed are Kailash Gahlot, who is also the state transport and environment minister, Sanjeev Jha, Nitin Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Pawan Kumar Sharma, Dutt Sharma, Rajesh Gupta, Sarita Singh, Dinesh Mohania, Amanatullah Khan and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar).

The President, in his order, rejected the disqualification plea, stating: “The EC has observed that the office of co-chairperson in DDMA falls under the exempted category as per item 14 of the Schedule of the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997 and therefore the Commission has tendered its opinion under Section 15(4) of the Government of National Capital Territory Act, 1991 that the respondents are not disqualified for holding office of profit.

Reacting to the President’s order, Kejriwal tweeted, “Satyamev Jayate! Ultimately, truth prevails.”

After Garg filed his petition in March, 2017, the Delhi government had responded to the Election Commission, saying the co-chairpersons of DDMA were not entitled to any remuneration by way of salary, allowances, sitting fee or any other facility such as office space or cars.

In October, 2018, Kovind had rejected another petition to disqualify 27 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding offices of profit by being appointed as chairpersons of Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKS) attached to various government-run hospitals in Delhi.