Delhi HC seeks facts from Election Commission over AAP MLAs disqualification

New Delhi, January 30: The Delhi High Court has asked the Election Commission to submit the facts or the reasons to disqualify 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in an affidavit. The court has set February 7 as a deadline for the EC to submit the affidavit in the matter.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar asked the poll panel to file the affidavit after the EC said it wanted to respond to some of the allegations made in the MLAs’ pleas challenging their disqualification from the Delhi Assembly.

The Commission also told the court that it would rely upon the opinion it gave to the President to disqualify the 20 AAP MLAs who were appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries.

In the course of proceedings, the bench said that the 250-page long synopsis, containing various documents, was very big and asked the EC to file a shorter one on affidavit. “A synopsis of 250 pages. It cannot be that big,” the court observed.

It had till then extended its interim order restraining the EC from issuing any notification announcing bye-elections. AAP, which his ruling Delhi government has approached Delhi High Court seeking relief against the order.

The Delhi High Court has also allowed advocate Prashant Patel, on whose plea the EC had recommended the MLAs disqualification to state his stand on the MLAs’ pleas.

Earlier, on January 24, the High Court had refused to stay the Centre’s notification disqualifying the MLAs, but restrained the EC from taking any “precipitate measures” like announcing dates for by-polls.

It had earlier summoned the entire records pertaining to the proceedings leading to the recommendation of the EC for the disqualification of the 20 legislators which received the President’s assent on January 20.