PA Sangma moves SC, challenges Pranab Mukherjee's election as President

Former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking to set aside Pranab Mukherjee’s election as the President of India. Sangma wants the SC to declare him as elected to the post.

Former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking to set aside Pranab Mukherjee’s election as the President of India. Sangma wants the SC to declare him as elected to the post.

Sangma, who lost the election to Mukherjee, has contended that the latter wasn’t eligible for contesting as he was holding offices of profit at the time of filing his nomination.

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According to him, Mukherjee was holding the offices of profit as the chairman of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, and the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha when he had entered the presidential race.

Sangma said at the time of his election as President, Mukherjee was the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, which was an office of profit, as the person holding this office is entitled to various facilities, which are in addition to the facilities available to him as an MP.

“That the act of bringing the said two offices — chairman of ISI and leader of legislative party of Congress in Lok Sabha — under the purview of Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 is in itself sufficient declaration that both these are offices of profit,” the petition stated.

Settled by senior advocate Ram Jethmalani and filed by lawyer Satpal Jain, the plea claimed Mukherjee’s election as President is “illegal and liable to be set aside.”