Parliament secretaries: Election Commission gives 21 AAP MLAs till Oct 17 to file replies

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has given the 21 AAP legislators time till October 17 to furnish their replies on a petition seeking their disqualification for allegedly holding an office of profit.
The EC rejected the pleas of the 21 MLAs seeking hard copies of the response filed by the Delhi government on the issue. EC reminded the law makers that it has already given them copies in a pen drive and is “not under any obligation” to provide hard copies.
EC made it clear that the legislators who are also functioning as parliamentary secretaries, will have to respond by October 17 on the plea seeking their disqualification failing which the commission will “presume” that they have “nothing to say in the matter” and proceed further accordingly.
The Delhi high court had in September set aside the appointment of 21 party MLAs as parliamentary secretaries ruling that the government order of their appointment was issued without mandatory concurrence of the LG.
Soon after the verdict, the MLAs sought time to study the judgement that set aside their appointment and were asked to file their replies by October 7. But they again sought an extension and demanded hard copies of the government reply.
The petition to disqualify AAP MLAs was filed by advocate Prashant Patel, who termed the legislators’ move a “ploy” to delay the proceedings.
The commission has also asked Patel to submit his rejoinder to the AAP MLAs response by October 21.