20 AAP MLAs move Delhi HC, hearing today

NEW DELHI: Twenty AAP MLAs, who were disqualified in the office-of-profit case after the President’s order, moved the Delhi high court on Tuesday against their re-moval from the Delhi Assembly.

The plea for urgent hearing of the appeal was mentioned before a bench of Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and A.K. Chawla, which listed it for Wednesday.

Advocate Manish Vashisht, appearing for one of the MLAs, told the bench that the matter requires urgent listing in view of the notification disqualifying 20 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

The plea by the MLAs has also sought stay and quashing of the government’s notification stating President Ram Nath Kovind had held that the 20 MLAs stand disqualified under the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act.

The notification came two days after the Election Commission wrote to the President recommending the disqualification of 20 AAP legislators for holding office-of-profit while serving as parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015, and September 8, 2016.

If the courts do not reverse the disqualification of 20 MLAs, byelections will be held for the 20 seats. But even the loss of all 20 seats will not impact the AAP’s majority in the Assembly, where the party had a strength of 66 of the 70 members. If the AAP’s strength is reduced to 46, it will still have many more legislators than a majority mark of 35.

The notification with President’s assent on their disqualification was issued on January 21 saying, “Having considered the matter in the light of the opinion expressed by the Election Commission, I, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, in exercise of the powers... Do here hold that the aforesaid 20 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly stand disqualified from being members of the said Assembly.”