Disqualification sword hangs on 21 AAP MLAs ahead of MCD polls in April

EC's final hearing in office-of-profit case on March 16, verdict likely by month end

As the pitch for the local body polls hots up in Delhi, the Congress is eagerly awaiting an Election Commission verdict, which may disqualify 21 lawmakers of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in an office of profit case.

The final hearing in the case is to be held on March 16 and the verdict could come by end of the month. If the AAP legislators are disqualified, the development could mean a huge setback for the party ahead of the municipal corporation polls slated for next month.

The Congress leaders claim the case against the AAP lawmakers is strong while the ruling party in Delhi is banking on an earlier High Court order which had set aside the charges against the MLAs.

Both AAP and the Congress are trying hard to take back the three municipal corporations which have been under the BJP for decades.

Sources said the matter has been pending before the poll panel since December 2016 and got delayed as the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi along with two Election Commissioners AK Joti and OP Rawat, were too busy with the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Final hearing in an office-of-profit case requires all the three ECs to be available on a given day.

Though petitioner Prashant Patel had urged the EC to take up the matter at the earliest in January, the poll panel intimated him on March 4 that the final hearing will be held on March 16.

Sources said the Congress leaders wanted an order in the case before the EC announced the dates for Punjab assembly polls in January as it would have dented the AAP but it could not happen.

Congress leaders alleged the AAP lawmakers are represented by various lawyers before the poll panel, a reason why the proceedings have consumed so much time.

Earlier both Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken and former BJP Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay had got the ECs permission to help it in the matter.

Though Maken can still appear before the poll panel on March 16, incumbent Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari won't get that opportunity as he has not sought any permission so far.

In March 2015, the Arvind Kejriwal government appointed 21 of the party's lawmakers as parliamentary secretaries. In June 2015, the Delhi assembly passed an amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997, which sought to make the position of parliamentary secretary in the Delhi Assembly exempt from the definition of Office of Profit, as the AAP enjoys an overwhelming majority in the house.

In June 2016, President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the amendment. In September 2016, the Delhi High Court set aside the Delhi government's order.

Later, when the matter reached the poll panel, the AAP lawmakers cited the HC order and urged the EC to discharge the petition filed by advocate Prashant Patel.

However, Congress leaders countered the AAP argument saying that the lawmakers have been wrongly holding the posts of parliamentary secretaries as the case is pending before the EC. They Congress leaders further said that holding an office-of-profit even for a day should result in immediate disqualification of a lawmaker.

They cited the example of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who had immediately resigned as chairperson of the National Advisory Council in an office-of-profit case in 2006. The then opposition BJP had alleged that NAC chief's post was an office-of-profit.