The President of India has disqualified 20 lawmakers of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi for holding the office of profit, bringing down the number of party MLAs in the assembly to 46 in the 70 seat house.
The move elicited a stinging reaction from the party which described it as “unconstitutional” and dangerous for democracy”.
The Election Commission of India recommended removal of these twenty lawmakers on Friday for being appointed parliamentary secretaries who assist ministers in their work, between March 2015 and September 2018. Though the MLAs did not draw any salary or perks in lieu of their work as parliamentary secretaries, the Election Commission opined that the MLAs were holding the office of profit during this period. Therefore, the EC said, the MLAs were liable to be disqualified.
The president gave his ascent the recommendation on Sunday.
“Whether or not the individual Parliamentary Secretaries actually derived the benefits or participated in executive functions of the government is of no relevance,” the EC had said citing a ruling by India’s top court.
Calling the move “extremely unconstitutional, unethical and biased” Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has said he will take legal recourse against the move.
"If required, we will go to the Supreme Court. The Constitution is supreme and is the law of the land and has been protected by our judiciary time and again," said Mr Kejriwal.
"AAP got 67 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly by God’s grace. He knew that after three years, these people would declare 20 of our MLAs disqualified. That’s why he gave us 67 seats," he added.
The party had already challenged the EC recommendation to disqualify the AAP MLAs in the Delhi High Court where the matter was to be heard on Monday.
Former union minister in the Atal BihariVajpyee government, Yashwant Sinha said the move to disqualify the MLA's was a "complete miscarriage of natural justice".
Former Supreme Court judge, Markandy Kataju also slammed the decision.
Even with 20 MLAs having been disqualified, the Aam Aadmi Party continues to have a majority government in Delhi.
The by-election for the vacant seats will be conducted in the next six months if the party fails to get a relief from the judiciary against the President’s order.
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