This story is from June 15, 2016

Procedure likely to take 3-4 months

The Election Commission’s disqualification proceedings against 21 AAP MLAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries may take around three-four months, with both the petitioner and the legislators likely to be given an opportunity to present their argument as part of the quasi-judicial hearing
Procedure likely to take 3-4 months
New Delhi: The Election Commission’s disqualification proceedings against 21 AAP MLAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries may take around three-four months, with both the petitioner and the legislators likely to be given an opportunity to present their argument as part of the quasi-judicial hearing. After the AAP MLAs replied to the EC’s notice seeking their reply on the ‘office of profit’ allegation, the commission forwarded their explanation to the petitioner, Delhi-based lawyer Prashant Patel, for a ‘rejoinder’.
Once his ‘rejoinder’ is in, the Commission will take a call on conducting a hearing.
In the event of a hearing, the petitioner and defendants will present their argument as is done in a court of law. There might be adjournments sought by the defending MLAs, which the EC is known to grant at least once. The proceedings, therefore, could stretch over a minimum 3-4 months. In fact, the disqualification proceedings against the then Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan over ‘office of profit’ issue took nearly six months. She was ultimately disqualified in March 2006.
“All aspects of the case questioning the appointment of 21 AAP MLAs as parliamentary secretaries will have to be heard before the EC makes its recommendation to the President on whether or not they should be disqualified for holding ‘office of profit’. It cannot be hurried as law must take its course,” said an EC functionary.
The petition filed by Patel with the President seeks action against creation of the 21 “unconstitutional” posts by the Delhi government. “Just as court cases go on independent of each other, the EC will continue to hear the petition...the end result, however, may well be the same, that is, disqualification of the 21 MLAs,” a home ministry official had told TOI on Monday.
In the event of disqualification of the AAP MLAs, bye-election to nearly one-third of the seats currently held by the ruling party will be necessitated. This will be like a mid-term mini-election, and will essentially test whether AAP sustains the popularity that catapulted it to a landslide victory in the February 2015 assembly poll. For BJP and Congress, it will present an opportunity to regain lost ground and get a voice in the state assembly. As of now, BJP has just three MLAs while Congress has none.
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